


Love Hurts

by Samthetrashcan



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dance Off, F/F, F/M, Genderfluid Characters, M/M, Slow Burn, Soulmate AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Strip Tease, Trans Characters, Truth or Dare, alcohol is drunk, drunk!Yuuri, goes along with canon for first chapter ish, lil bit of angst for good measure, nice sister mari, phichit is always ready to facetime, phichit is great, possessive drunk victor, supportive family, yuuri is a rly seductive drunk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-06 05:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8736856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Samthetrashcan/pseuds/Samthetrashcan
Summary: Yuuri's life was already going downhill, and then Victor Nikiforov's name appeared on his arm and it just got worse. Soulmate AU - the name of your soulmare can appear anywhere on your body at any time in life. Rarely do the marks for both soulmates appear at the same time. But when the other person gets their mark - it HURTS.





	1. Who is it?

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little bit of fun!
> 
> This chapter is a tiny bit shorter than I would have liked but it seemed to come to a natural ending I hope you enjoy it! <3
> 
> You can reach me on tumblr @ transparentlycisstressed !
> 
> Not beta'd.

Yuuri had wondered endlessly about why Victor Nikiforov was his soul mate. When the mark had appeared on his skin the moment before he stepped onto the same ice that Victor was competing on, he completely froze and bombed every single spin, step sequence and jump. He could not possibly think of winning this final now he knew that his soul mate was his childhood crush and figure skating idol. It was impossible to think that Victor could be interested in him now that he lost to him. His career was over and he was never going to see Victor again.

When he landed back home after his five year absence he thought his humiliation would finally be over but it was, in fact, amplified by the posters that Minako had decided to plaster all over the town and airport. He thought that at home, the pressure would be off in terms of figure skating but it seemed to be the exact opposite. When Minako greeted him, the whole town seemed to collectively recognise who he was. Everyone wanted to meet him and have a conversation with him and although he really was not in the mood, Minako made him stay and humour his fans. Yuuri was actually coerced into doing this because, “Victor Nikiforov was always nice to his fans” and even though things have changed in the five years since Minako had seen him, she still thought of him as a kid with an obsession over Victor Nikiforov. She could still use that same trick, however, because nothing had really changed.

Once at the house, after he exhausted his hand with the amount of autographs he had to give, he sighed a great relief. Perhaps his family would be more understanding of his defeat and let him rest for once.

When he saw his mother and father at the reception of their inn, he quickly apologised for being away for so long and greeted them with warmth. His mother, however, did comment on his weight – something he had been hiding obsessively from Minako, who would surely kill him.

And sure enough, with an outrageous scream, he suddenly found himself with the baggy clothes strewn to the ground and his head hanging in shame. His stomach flopped over the waist band of his jeans and his chubby face was out in the open for all to see. He had always had problems with his weight, and he knew that he should have kept his figure, but what was the point if he was giving up figure skating anyway. After all, the only reason he would have kept figure skating would be to keep meeting Victor, but even then he would never have the guts to tell him anything about his soul mate mark.

Oh shit. His mark was out for all to see.

Hurriedly, he scooped up all his clothes and ran as fast as he could to his room and slammed the door shut. If anyone had found out he had even got the mark, they would bug him about it until he either did something about it or he died. He knew he would never disclose his feelings to Victor so, yeah, he would die first with all his pestering family around him, telling him to make a last ditch effort to tell Victor about the mark.

It's not like everyone found their soul mate anyway. Soul mates are just people who are matched to you. Yuuri could count on his hands the amount of people that never found their soul mates so it doesn't really matter if they find each other or not. Nothing bad would happen.

Sighing, he picked up some kit and headed to the Ice Castle. There had been something he wanted to show his friend Yuuko which he had been working on for a while.  
  


* * *

  
At the ice rink he greeted the triplets, who were as big a handful as always, and made his way to the rink. He always loved this particular ice rink. It was the rink in which he learned to skate, had his first competition, and first saw Victor on the TV in the reception. It was full of brilliant and amazing memories and always felt like home to him. This was the perfect place for him to show Yuuko exactly what he had been working on.

He grabbed his skates and made sure Yuuko was watching before he started. She knew what it was immediately, from the moment he stepped onto the ice. It was Victor's routine which won him the World Championships.

Yuuri skated as if his life depended on it. It was a completely different performance yet a complete replica at the same time. The way he danced like the music was flowing through his entire being seemed to amaze Yuuko as she watched on from the stands each time Yuuri faced her. Although he knew it was not a perfect performance, he felt the all eyes of the staff there watching him, captivated by his obvious naivety. He finished with a flourish and after he took his compliments from Yuuko and Takeshi he left the ice to go home.

That performance was too emotional to stay for even more pleasantries. He once thought that Yuuko was his soul mate before he really understood what a soul mate was and wished it to be her. The sense of devastation when he found out her soul mate was really his rink mate was Takeshi was so intense that when he left after they had children, he was glad somewhat that he could move on from it and find his own soul mate. Now he knew who his soul mate was however, he sorely wished he could go back to thinking that it was Yuuko and not Victor Nikiforov.  


* * *

  
Yuuri awoke the next morning groggy and depressed. He was back at home but he was still upset about his skating career coming to an abrupt end and the huge elephant in the room of Victor Nikiforov being his actual soul mate!

Groaning, he rolled out of his bed and checked his phone for the first time since he left the ice rink. Shit, he had a lot of missed calls from Phichit and some other people. Quickly, he opened one of the hundreds of messages.

SHIT.

Holy. Mother. Of. Fuck.

His 'performance' of Victor's routine was all over the internet.

What a disaster! How could this have happened? He was sure that Yuuko wasn't filming and Takeshi certainly wasn't. It must have been them conniving little triplets. They were always getting into mischief but they probably did not understand how bad this was. Oh God. How was he going to explain this to Minako?

RING RING! RING RING!

As if she had been eavesdropping on his thoughts, Minako's face appeared on his phone and it was a picture of pure fury.

“YUURI! Why are you all over the internet? And why didn't you invite me to come see you perform like that? I am so angry with you right now I can't believe it. You are completely insufferable and don't think that keeping secrets from me is going to end well. I saw that mark on your arm and I'm sure many others did. Who's name is it Yuuri? Don't you think now people know that it's there they are going to want to know too? So just tell me first, ok. I NEED to know.”

Fuck. His mark had been visible on the video. He had absent mindedly pulled up his sleeves because he was getting really hot and hadn't really thought that it would show. Only Phichit knew about the mark but didn't know who it was still. He deliberated on telling her before deciding that he might as well – they were quite close.

Rubbing his free hand over his face he replied, “It's Vic-(mumble)”

“What was that Yuuri? You're mumbling and I need to know!”

“It's Victor Nikifor-”

Screaming filled Yuuri's room as Minako became overwhelmed with excitement.

“Please stop screaming Minako, my family will wonder what all the fuss is about.”

“Ok ok, I've calmed down now. But seriously show me the mark. I want to see it for real.”

Yuuri, really didn't want to show Minako. It was seriously intimate and what if she took a screen shot. They were on face-time and who knows how many she has taken already. It only took a few seconds of that stern look that Minako always had however, before he finally lifted his sleeve and showed her the mark.

“That's really real. Isn't it?”

Yuuri sighed at her questioning tone, “No it isn't. I got a tattoo of my idols name in the style of a soul mate mark in a really showy place because I want to trick him into becoming my boyfriend.”

Minako's face faltered for a moment. “What?”

“Of course I didn't do that! And it's real. Don't tell anyone else ok? I don't want mother to find out from you. She would hate it if I told her when I'm not even going to pursue Victor anyway.”

Minako nodded her head. “Ok Yuuri. I'll keep my mouth shut, but I can't guarantee what will happen once I've had a few drinks.”  


* * *

  
Over the course of the next 24 hours, Yuuri did everything he could to conceal his mark. This included “borrowing” his sister's concealer and obsessively pulling his sleeves down whenever there was someone close by. He was a mess.

When he came home after skating the next day, he was thrown to the ground by a dog that looked so similar to his old dog that, for a second, he thought it was. The dog was slightly larger though and much more heavier when he was sitting on his chest. Studying the dog more closely while also dodging licks from the dog's mouth, he noticed the name tag - “MAKKACHIN”

Crap. That must mean that Victor's here?

He leapt up and ran straight towards the onsen on his mothers words that an “attractive foreigner” had headed there – and by God did he run. He needed to see if this was just some horrible prank pulled on him by someone. Better yet, it could just be a coincidence that an attractive foreign stranger with a dog like Maccachin had passed through. No way could Victor be here. No way. Did Victor see the video? Did Victor see his name on his arm from the video? The suspense was killing him. He needed to know.

Bursting out into the outdoor baths, he saw the grey haired man sitting there, naked and nonchalant. Yuuri stood there panting from his impromptu sprint. His mouth wide open in terror and fascination with his glasses horribly fogged up. He took his glasses off and squinted. Oh my, it really was Victor. Now he was doubly desperate to know why Victor Nikiforov (his soul mate) was sitting butt naked in his family's onsen.

Then Victor did something mortifying as Yuuri's jaw dropped.. He stood up, naked, his whole chiselled body steaming from the bath water and proclaimed, “Yuuri! Starting today I'm your coach!”

Slightly relieved that Victor didn't have his soul mate mark yet but also horrified at the thought of having to be so close to his actual unobtainable soul mate, Yuuri did what he was good at and ran for the hills. He did not want to deal with Victor Nikiforov. Yes, he was excited to have him as a coach but also horrified that he would have to see him every day knowing that they were the perfect match for each other.

He stopped running when he reached his bedroom and decided to do what he knew was the best choice. Face time Phichit. Phichit always had the answers to everything.

He scrolled through his contacts, pressed Phichit's contact and waited for Phichit to pick up. He desperately hoped it wasn’t a bad time due to the time zone differences. Every ring leaked anxiety into his heart but he really needed to talk to his friend right now.

Eventually, Phichit picked up and Yuuri sighed a great relief. “Phichit! I have a problem.”

Phichit looked tired but he humoured his friend., “What is it? Is is something about Victor Nikiforov not skating this season? Is that what you wanted to solve?”

Yuuri thought for a second before replying, “No... Yes, well not really. The problem is that he's been sitting in my family's onsen and been telling me he's going to be my coach.”

“WHAT! Victor Nikiforov, the World Champion is sitting naked in your onsen wanting to coach you and you have a problem? That's not really the problem is it? There's something else you're not telling me.”

Yuuri blushed intensely before he replied, “You know that since my mark has appeared I've been a little distracted and completely embarrassed myself at the Grand Prix Final?”

Phichit nodded.

“Well, what I didn't tell you, and I've only told Minako this, is that Victor's name is right on my forearm! He'll only be a few rooms away and I don't think I'll be able to cope at all. I get so anxious about it because what if he needs to look at my arms for training purposes or something and then he sees his name in bold red letters and he gets weirded out and never even looks at me again. I'm freaking out Phichit!”

“Yuuri, remember to breath and try not to pass out. Also I'm mad that you didn't tell me earlier. Are you still conflicted about Yuuko? I know you were devastated about not being her soul mate?”

“What! I am not conflicted about Yuuko! I'm more preoccupied that my actual childhood crush is actually my soul mate and instead of avoiding it forever I have to confront it! Help me Phichit! What do I do? I feel so anxious. Do I tell my mum about the mark? Who do I tell?”

“Look Yuuri, I wouldn't tell your mother! She would go so overboard with the whole idea so no don't tell her yet. I also wouldn't tell Victor. Wait until your skating season is over and then you can tell him. I'm sure that he will love you by then so it won't matter.”

Those words of advice did not help Yuuri one bit, “But what if he gets his mark while we are training. Then he will know that it's his name on my arm because he watched the video and saw my arm.”

“Um,” Phichit scratched his head, “I think you need to tell him then. If it's inevitably going to come up in- wait.”

“What?”

“How do you know Victor doesn't have his mark yet?”

Yuuri blushed down to his stomach, “Well, he was in the onsen and then he stood up and I kind of saw... well.. you know... everything.”

All Yuuri heard for the second time that week was someone screaming obnoxiously in his bedroom.

“YOU SAW HIS DICK?”

“PHICHIT IT WAS NOT LIKE THAT!”

Later that evening after calming Phichit down enough that they could have a coherent conversation they had decided on a game plan. If nothing developed between them while Victor was his coach he would tell him at the end of the season. If Victor accidentally found out it was his name then Yuuri would run away to live under a rock until Victor died or he died. Which ever one would happen first. It was a very solid plan. A very suitable plan.

Having a plan calmed Yuuri down immensely. Even if the plan did include running away from his responsibilities at least he could be prepared to do it. Living under a rock wouldn't be too bad. Although, the anxiety when he was around Victor was dizzying. Every time they were close, it felt like his mark physically burned him and he had a peculiar impulse to just tell Victor. But he subdued the urge in every instance. Maybe he could talk to Yuuko about it. She was in love with her soul mate after all.

Keeping it covered up wasn't too bad either. Yes, he caught himself multiple times itching to pull up his sleeves while trying to get his weight down due to the heat, but he never did. His constant worrying made sure of that.

After weeks of training and denying to go in the onsen with Victor, his weight was down just enough that he could start training again. He ran to the Ice Castle and was ready to burst in and finally have something to tell Victor but instead he was met with a media frenzy mobbing the entrance to the Ice Castle. Puzzled, he pushed his way through and saw that the triplets were preventing them from entering the ice rink for which he was grateful. He was about to tell them the good news when barrages of questions started to be directed towards him:

“What name is on your arm?”

“Is it Victor Nikiforov?”

“What's your relationship with Nikiforov?”

“Why did he become your coach and leave his career behind?”

Mortified, Yuuri hurried into the ice rink, but suddenly he was hit on the back by someone and was forced flying into the front desk. Laying dazed on the ground, he was again surprised again by a foot landing squarely between his eyes. Looking up, he saw Yuri Plisetsky. It was the skater who humiliated him in the toilets when he suffered his devastating loss. Did he come back to take Victor back to Russia?

It was then that the realisation hit him that he really didn't want Victor to go. He shivered with a sense of loss that he wouldn't be able to be coached by him. His mark burned his arm as he got up with this knew knowledge and he absent-mindedly rubbed it as the other Yuri lectured him about Victor. His eyes glazed over and he wandered with Yuri to the changing rooms. Yuuri didn't think he could cope with having Victor being taken away. Not when he knew that he would probably never get back onto the circuit without him.

While he was putting on his skates, he noticed Yuri staring at his arm. As a reflex he tugged his long sleeve down lower.

“Look, pig. I don't know what name is on your arm, but I will find out. Even if I have to kill you I will find out who's on your arm.”

Yuuri let go of his sleeve and returned to tying up his lace. He remained silent for a short while before he replied, “Victor doesn't know I have the mark – or he hasn't brought it up at least. For a short while can you at least keep your mouth shut.”

Yuuri knew he didn't sound convincing. The mark was the hottest news in the skating world right now, only second to Victor leaving the circuit to train him. Perhaps the news of Victor leaving skating had amplified the news of his mark. Anyway, Yuuri felt foolish for thinking that Victor was oblivious to the fact he had his mark already.

Once both were ready they headed for the rink. Victor was in the middle of a beautiful step sequence when they both interrupted it with Yuri trying to desperately pull up Yuuri's sleeve. Slapping his hands away, Yuuri tried to focus on Victor. Maybe that would help him stop panicking over the fact that Yuri was trying to sabotage his skating career.

However, that did not work. Victor was so mesmerising that once Yuuri looked at Victor, he could not look away. It was too much for him to handle. This momentary lapse in concentration was just the perfect opportunity for Yuri to reach over and wrench his sleeve up. The mark seemed to burn as Victor stepped out of his triple axel and stopped to look straight at him. Yuuri snapped out of his trance like state and he threw himself to the ground with his arm under him. It hurt like hell but he could not risk any one seeing that name.

He stayed on the floor for a moment groaning in agony with the realisation that he may have stupidly broken his arm. Great. Now his skating career was definitely over this season.

He rolled over onto his back and covered his arm with his sleeve before he got up and ran when he saw Victor skating over to check if he was ok. He ran straight to Yuuko. She would be discrete about his arm – wouldn't she? She knew all about soul mates too. Maybe it was time they had a proper chat about it.

Fortunately, by the time he ran into the reception with tears streaming down his face from pain, she had managed to clear the reporters. Upon seeing his face, Yuuko quickly rushed over and he showed her his arm. She checked his arm and it was... Yuuri looked down. His arm was fine.

“Oh no.” Said Yuuko looking aghast at the arm, “That pain only happens when your soul mate gets the mark as well. Looks like it's time to at least tell him. He deserves to know you have the mark too.”

“I have t-to g-go.” Yuuri stuttered as he left the Ice Castle cradling his arm in complete agony. When they said love hurts he didn't think it would be that painful.


	2. Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phichit is a bae and Yuuri's mum is an angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHH thank you everyone for the amazing response this fic has had <3
> 
> Here's a rly quick update because I was inspired by all the nice comments to go fast.
> 
> Again quite a short chapter but I'm tired and wanted to update quick.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it! <3

Yuri didn't know where to go, but first he had to take off his skates. In his hurry to leave Ice Castle he hadn't stopped to take them off. Coming to an abrupt stop, he sat on a nearby bench and unlaced them. His arm still felt like it was on fire and his mind sure felt like that as well. He needed to hide. He needed to figure out what he was going to do now that Victor knew he was his soul mate.   
  
All of his hiding places, however, were not so secret. He would often go to the Ice Castle or the dance studio in times like this but he needed somewhere where Victor wouldn't expect him to go. Perhaps the beach would be nice. His arm was still incredibly sore and the cool salt water would probably help take some of the pain away so he could actually sort out his emotions and not hyper focus on his arm.  
  
Picking up his skates and slinging them over his shoulder, he ran without his shoes on to the beach. Before he got to the sand, he peeled off his shirt and socks, rolled up his jogging bottoms, putting his phone into his skates. There was a bench facing the ocean so he placed all his things onto it before he ran into the waves. It was a glorious feeling submerging his arm in the cool water so he just drifted there for a while with the pain subduing slightly. When he noticed that he was drifting a bit too far out to sea he swam back to the shore and sat by the waves, letting them lap at his feet.  
  
While sitting there, his mind drifted to Victor. He had never seen Victor step out of a jump before. Was that because of the mark? Did it hurt him as much as it hurt himself? There were all these questions running through his mind. It all felt a bit too much. He still wasn't comfortable around Victor at all. His mere presence made his heart slam against his chest and his head spin. Yuuri doubted if he would ever be comfortable around Victor now. Were they even friends yet?   
  
Yuuri was incredibly confused.   
  
So Yuuri did what he always did in times of need and messaged Phichit.   
  
He retrieved his phone from his skates and went to sit back down by the sea.   
  
> is this a gd time to call u?   
  
>> not really   
>> but you can text me abt it   
  
Relieved, Yuuri started typing out an essay.  
  
> VICTOR HAS THE MARK!!!! im freaking out agaAIN !! I have no idea on what to do. The plan we made doesnt apply to this situation. Pls help!!!!!!!!!!! Also yuri plisetsky is here to take victor away and I really don’t know what to do now!!!!! if he stays I get to continue doing figure skating but we have to deal with the mark!!! on the other hand he leaves me bc he knows I have the mark and didn’t tell himhe leaves in order to teach the younger yuri who is probably way more talented than me and less secretive :(((((( what do I do ?? u always have the answers :((((((((   
  
>> um.... I think I should face time you   
>> wait a minute   
  
Yuuri stared at his phone for a solid five minutes before Phitchit called. Yuuri didn't even let it ring before he picked up.   
  
“What's your plan?” Yuuri asked immediately, his toes tapping on the sand as he sat there with his knees bunched up to his chest.   
  
“Whoa whoa. This is your problem – not mine.”   
  
“Oh, so you're not going to help me?”   
  
“That's not what I said. I'll help you come up with a plan, but it has to be your plan.”   
  
“Oh ok. But I have no idea what to do.” Yuuri almost whined at Phichit at the phone – begging him to help him. He attempted to do puppy eyes but it just looked like an angry pout at best.   
  
“Right,” Phichit must have seen the desperation in his eyes because he soon caved, “let's sort out Victor first. He knows you're his soul mate and possibly knows you've been keeping it secret? Correct?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Well, when you're ready, you need to talk to him about it. Now, how are you going to do that?”   
  
“I'll probably wait until he talks to me.” “And you're fine with that?”   
  
“Yes... I mean I'd like to talk to him but the prospect seems terrifying. We're soul mates. Reporters are staying at the Inn so it's unlikely that we would be able to have a moments peace anyway. Also Yuri Plisetsky is here and because this has happened he might just take the next plane to Russia to coach Yuri.”   
  
Tears were starting to form in Yuuri's eyes now as he fully realised the gravity of the situation.   
  
“Yuuri, look don’t cry. This will sort itself out. Just tell me again what your plan is.”   
  
“To talk to Victor.”   
  
“And how are you going to do that?”   
  
Yuuri remained silent for a moment before replying. He had no idea why, but a wash of anger and insecurity rose within him as he spat out his reply, “I'll wait for him to come to me. If he doesn't then he obviously doesn't care and we should carry on as if nothing ever happened.”   
  
Yuuri hung up.   
  
He didn't want to hear Phichit's advice after all. If it was just going to make him more anxious he didn't have to listen to it. It was mean of him to just hang up like that, but he needed to say it to someone and then deal with the consequences later. Phichit tried ringing again so he just tuned his phone off and went to sit on the bench and he stared at the ocean. An hour or so must have passed as he just sat there gazing out into the distance, watching the gulls.   
  
While talking to Victor was his best option, he really did not feel up to it. The relationship had not developed into a friendship where something could be salvaged from this. There was no deep level of trust and he knew nothing about Victor, but now there was a pressure for them two to try and form this relationship into something romantic. The pressure was suffocating. Yuuri hated it when things were forced. He absolutely hated it. Why did this have to happen to him? He supposed that shutting himself up in his bedroom would be another good option because Victor would then have to come to him to talk, but all he wanted to do was run and never come back.   
  
The day seemed to wear on as he gazed out into the ocean – his thoughts quietening down. After a while, he noticed his bare arms and chest beginning to get cold so he shoved his shirt back on and walked back to his house with bare feet.   
  
When he got to the Inn, his sister questioned where he had been, but he didn't reply. Instead he went to his room, slammed the door shut and locked it. He flopped onto his bed and hesitantly turned on his phone.   
  
Again, messages galore from Phitchit. A wash of guilt folded over Yuuri – he shouldn't have been so petty towards Phichit. Yes, it was a bit awful of him, but it was a heat of the moment action. He really didn't mean it.   
  
Sighing, he called Phichit to apologise.  
  
The phone was ringing. That was a good sign. It meant Phichit wasn't fuming with him enough that he would just cut off the call straight away.   
  
“I'm sorry.” he simply stated when Phichit picked up the call, “I shouldn't have just hung up on you. I'll make it up to you and send you a tissue that Victor has sneezed on, ok?”   
  
He heard Phichit reluctantly laugh on the other end of the line, “Hm. what you did was not a good idea. Now when I next see you I'm definitely going to have to think of an extra mean prank to pull on you.”   
  
The light hearted humour calmed Yuuri down slightly, knowing his friend wasn't too upset about his behaviour. He knew he was serious about the prank, though, and hoped he would forget about it by the time they would next meet up.   
  
“You were right Phichit. I should talk to him. I didn't sit for hours looking out into the ocean like a loser to just not say anything. The next time I see him I promise to talk to him.”   
  
“Ok Yuuri. If you say so. If you don't say anything soon I swear I'm flying to Japan just to give you a kick up the ass and just do it!”   
  
“Are we alright?”, Yuuri felt anxious, he really didn't want Phichit to be secretly mad at him. He needed at least one relationship in his life which wasn't complicated or awkward.   
  
“Yes, of course Yuuri. I know you inside out. I know you are a stubborn, over emotional, anxious idiot so I understand that you do mean, petty things when you're upset. Still going to get you back for it. You're not getting off that easily.”   
  
Yuuri sighed in relief, “Thank, Phichit, I'm really glad I sorted that out with you. If it's alright with you I'm going to hang up now ok?”   
  
Phichit abruptly ended the call.   
  
Yuuri definitely deserved that.   
  
For the first time after his arm stopped burning, Yuuri looked at his mark. Yep, that was definitely Victor Nikiforov etched into his skin. Red and raw. It was sore to touch. Yuuri didn't know a lot about soul mates. He knew that no one got them at the same time and that not everyone was together with their soul mate, but he had never been taught that it is actually very painful. He wondered if it was normal. Yuuko seemed to think it was. That gave him mild relief, but there were now hundreds of questions going through his mind about why it always burnt when he was near Victor and why he always had the impulse to tell him about it when they were close. He wished that his school education had been more informative than – you get a mark, not everyone has a relationship with their soul mate and you don't get it at the same time. There had never been any indication of pain or weird impulses.   
  
Maybe google had the answer.   
  
Stumbling out of his bed, he plopped himself into his desk chair and opened up his laptop. Immediately, he googled, “Is it normal for a soul mate mark to burn when the other person gets it?”   
  
That came up with conflicting evidence. Some people said yes, some people said no. There was no explanation given at all for this either.   
  
Confused, he tried more searches, but each came up with inconclusive answers. He wondered why. Surely there must at least be a book he can read about it. Surely there must be at least one. He searched in vain for the next thirty minutes until hunger overcame him and he needed a pork cutlet bowl.   
  
With his stomach grumbling, he unlocked his door and headed to the kitchen to find his mother talking to Victor. Victor's hand kept rubbing an area on his side and he wondered if that was where he had been marked before he instantly bolted back to his room with his hand clutched to his chest as anxiety rocked through his body. Yes, Victor usually talked to his mum about cooking and usually had small talk, but this seemed different. This seemed personal. Sinking down with his back to the door, he heard his stomach rumble like a dying whale. God, he needed that pork cutlet bowl. With Victor there or not he - was going to get it.   
  
Take 2.   
  
He emerged from his bedroom again, slowly padding this time to the kitchen. He peaked through the door again but Victor was not there. Slightly relieved that he could retrieve his katsudon in peace but also slightly panicked as he had no idea where Victor had gone, he entered.   
  
The atmosphere in the room seemed awkward. Maybe that was just Yuuri being Yuuri. But he couldn't shake the feeling his mother knew something. Politely, he tapped his mother on the shoulder.   
  
She slowly turned around with a knowingly loving smile.   
  
Holy crap. She knew.   
  
“Mum, c-can I have some katsudon please?” he tried to ask in the most innocent voice he could muster.   
  
His mother then silently plated up a big bowl and placed it in front of Yuuri with a big passive aggressive thud and a huge smile. Perhaps this was her way of punishing Yuuri for not telling her sooner.   
  
Yuuri gazed hungrily at the bowl and started to devour it with fervour.   
  
“So,” she started as Yuuri dug into his bowl, “Victor has just told me something very interesting. He said,”   
  
Oh no. The truth was coming out.   
  
“He said that you fell at the rink today and you disappeared. That's not like you, Yuuri. What happened?”   
  
Oh she knew. She definitely knew. Maybe she was the right person to talk to this about.   
  
“Mother, don't be angry with me.”   
  
  
Her expression softened slightly, and she rested her hand on top of her son's, “You know you can tell me anything.”   
  
And that's when it all flooded out, “I lost my competition because of this.” he pulled up his sleeve to show her the mark, “and it wasn't a problem when he showed up because I didn't want anything to happen and today it just burned so badly. I fell today because the other Yuri tried to see it so I bailed to the floor. Then it started burning. Yuuko said it was because he had the mark too and I freaked out and sat at the beach for a few hours and now I'm back and I have no idea what to do about it. I think he's going to go back to Russia with Yuri, I mean Victor and I aren't even good friends yet. I tried googling things about marks but I can't find anything about them so I'm just very confused and frustrated at the moment and scared.”   
  
His mother's eyes softened and pulled him into a hug, “Did you know that when my first soul mate died it felt like I had died? And did you also know, that a second mark appeared just a day after. I saw your dad. It felt different. It still felt like burning, but it felt good in my grief. I did just what you did. I ran and I hid and I tried to find as much information about soul mates as I could. But just like you, I found no answers. People over the years have tried to figure out what happens with these marks on our bodies and if they really do indicate a soul mate and if you could have more than one. But marks are just as complicated as our souls. They change, they die, they evolve. I can't explain to you how many different stories I've heard about soul mates. But one thing is true for our family at least. These marks show themselves when we need our soul mate. Not when they need us. Since you hadn't had yours yet, I assumed that your soul mate had got their mark and you had followed in your dads foot steps of getting the mark last. Yet, here you are, hiding your mark from me for all this time and apparently the whole world knew about it. I am quite annoyed young man. That was not the boy I raised. You should go and talk to him. He was very sweet when he came to find you. He was worried about you. Ever so worried. Look, whatever happens between you and Victor, you can always come and talk to me.”   
  
Yuuri smiled thankfully at his mother, “I love you mum.”   
  
“I love you too, son.”   
  
Yuuri smiled as he tucked back into his katsudon. Today felt like a mini victory so, yeah, he could have his favourite dish. It's not like Victor was there to chastise him for it. After a while his mother left him to it as he started on another bowl before he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He told them to come in as he stuffed some pork into his mouth, forgetting that it could be Victor.   
  
Knowing Yuuri's luck today, it was. He looked up to see that Victor had his pyjamas on, a large oversized t shirt and some baggy jogging bottoms. He was clutching a teddy bear and had a sleepy look in his eye. It had been a long day for the both of them apparently.   
  
When Victor saw the pork cutlet bowl, however, it was like the kraken had awoken within him and he tore it out of Yuuri's hands and threw it in the washing up bowl, “You just got your weight down! How are you going to keep your figure of you keep eating like that whenever you are feeling sad?” Victor's sleepy eyes seemed to become ablaze with anger.   
  
He seemed to pout as he plopped down on the opposite side of the table to Yuuri, but Yuuri didn't seem intimidated by this display. It was more of a comical moment because he looked so damn cute- wait... Did he actually think that? Oh no. This couldn't be happening. He sipped his water as he waited for Victor, who was currently clutching his teddy, to say something.   
  
After an awkward silence for a few minutes, Victor finally opened his mouth, “You worried me today.”   
  
“I know.” was Yuuri's response. He didn't know what to say other than that.   
  
“I talked to your mother. She's a nice lady.”   
  
“I know.”   
  
“Is there anything you don’t know?” There seemed to be an annoyance radiating off of Victor. Yuuri seemed to get it. It must have been frustrating knowing that your student knew the entire time that he was your soul mate only to hide it.   
  
“I don't know a lot about you.” Yuuri offered this as a consolation to Victor, but he was just met with a passive aggressive smile.   
  
“No one knows anything about me.”   
  
“I kn-”   
  
“If you say that one more time I will- I will... Ugh I'm too tired to talk about this. Look. I have a plan to sort out what's going to happen between you and Yuri. Just come to the rink tomorrow and in the mean time we can play twenty questions. I'll go first, have you had any previous lovers?”   
  
Yuuri blushed red and shook his head, “No no no.”   
  
“Really?” Victor asked, “I don't believe that.”   
  
“Well it's true. OK, my question: why did you cut your hair?”   
  
Victor clutched his teddy bear a bit tighter before replying, “I got gum stuck in it. Yakov had to use scissors to cut it out. It looked nice short so I kept it like that.”   
  
The answer seemed stiff and shortened to the bare minimum. Yuuri could somehow sense that Victor wasn't quite telling the truth.   
  
“My question now!” Victor quickly diverted the conversation back to Yuuri, “What's the most embarrassing thing you've done drunk? I want to know all your dirty little secrets.”   
  
Victor's eyes seemed to shine with excitement as he leaned over the tables and leered in Yuuri's face. Yuuri backed away slightly before he answered, “I think that time I kissed Phichit. Basically, I was blindfold-”   
  
“What! Yuuri, you never told me you were into that kind of stuff.”   
  
Yuuri felt himself blush all the way down to his toes before he jumped to his own defence, “No! It wasn't like that! It was at a house party and Phichit had weird stuff in his apartment and someone thought they should play a game called slap or kiss. Basically if it's your turn you spin the bottle and it lands on someone, then you're sent out the room so they decide whether to slap or kiss you. When you return to the room, you put on the blindfold and wait and see what happens. Unfortunately, I had to kiss Phichit and I've never been more mortified in my life. He's like my brother!”   
  
Yuuri visibly cringed at the memory, his face screwing up and his body hunching before he relaxed to look at Victor's reaction. To his surprise, Victor looked like he was shocked. Why on earth would he look that shocked?   
  
“Victor? Are you ok-”   
  
“But you are so innocent! Why would you do something like that? I think we should go out drinking tonight so I can get to know you better, Yuuri.”   
  
Yuuri looked at Victor. He was wearing his pyjamas. How on earth was he going to go out drinking dressed like that?  
  
Victor must have seen the confused look on Yuuri's face as he replied, “I'll change and meet you in the reception in ten minutes.”   
  
Yuuri placed his head in his hands after Victor had got up and left. Why did this have to happen to him?


	3. Yuuri Lets His Hair Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD BLESS EPISODE TEN!!!
> 
> Also to clear up some arising issues with the new information and obviously spoilers:
> 
> When Yuuri got semi-naked at the banquet, his mark wasn't very visible and they were all drunk so they didn't really pay attention to it!! Also it probably hurt him but he was too drunk to think anything about it. Also Yurio doesn't know much about marks at all so as he was sober he probably thought that Yuuri had written Victor's name on his arm in red pen as he is a young bean.
> 
> (It's times like this when I wish I didn't have the conflict of having the mark in an obvious place :)))) )
> 
> Ok I hope that shitty explanation covers any plot holes that episode put in my fic as ep 10 is quite relevent to the characterisation of Yuuri in this chapter.
> 
> I hope this is acceptable and thank you for all the kudos and kind comments I love them all <3

It was not long before Victor had changed into a blue v-neck top and black jeans before he was pulling Yuuri out of the door into the reception. Yuuri didn't have time to even yelp before he was on his feet and rushing to pull his shoes on as Victor tapped his wrist anxiously despite there being an absence of a watch. It seemed that Victor was ready to drink and Yuuri felt incredibly pressured to join him – but he could not. Training was starting tomorrow and he didn't want to start it by being hungover. He also knew that when he got drunk, all his inhibitions went out the window and he always made a show of himself. He could not let that happen. 

As they walked into the main town, Victor's eyes seemed to be gleaming with excitement. Yuuri didn't share the same sentiment. He felt ill with anxiety as it clawed at his mind. Questions ran through his head in an endless tape and trying to make sense of them got him no where. Would Victor tell anyone that Yuuri was his soul mate? In the end, he just tried to forget his fears, even if it didn't work he would have to at least try. Getting to know Victor would not be an easy task. If it meant having to endure him drunk then that would have to be the way.

When they entered the he first bar, no one noticed them. It wasn't like they were famous in the everyday world. It was only in the figure skating world in which they were the main attraction. Yuuri and Victor sat at the bar and then Victor ordered some shots. When the barman placed them in front of the pair, Victor grabbed one and nodded for Yuuri to do the same. Yuuri eyed the shots nervously. They often went straight to his head and he didn't want to get drunk around Victor just yet. He spotted the concerned look in Victor's eyes and decided to explain himself. He didn't want to appear rude when he was not the one buying the drinks.

“Would you mind if I ordered some beer? Shots aren't really my thing.” Yuuri explained apologetically.

Victor looked saddened for a second before he replied with a heart shaped smile on his face, “Of course I don’t mind. There's more for me!” 

And with that, Victor downed both shots within the two seconds it took Yuuri to wave the barman over and request a beer. Yuuri was surprised at Victor's eagerness, but knew from his years of being a die hard fan of Victor Nikiforov that he was no stranger to partying so he trusted him to handle his drink. 

So far they had been lucky to avoid reporters at this bar, so Yuuri decided to use one of his remaining questions as he opened his drink, “Where is your mark?”

Victor had just ordered and received a whiskey and coke and was reclining in his seat slightly, but he jumped forward when he heard the question. His drink sloshed in his hand slightly and Yuuri wondered if Victor was feeling the affects of his shots already. Even with the rumours of him being able to hold his drink, he wouldn't be surprised if they were all lies at this point in time. Victor was nothing like he had imagined.

“Um,” Victor started before he leaned in further to whisper in Yuuri's ear, “It's on the side of my ribs. Want to see it?”

Yuuri took an awkward sip of his beer and scooted back on his seat a little, blushing profusely, before he replied a firm, “No.” Even though he really wanted to see inalienable proof that Victor was really his soul mate, part of him still wasn't ready to accept it. 

Victor's mouth seemed to almost pout as Yuuri stated he didn't want to see it, but Yuuri was not going to go back on it. He really did not want to see the mark. Also they were in public. He couldn't bear it if someone got wind about the whole affair and told the press, that would be a disaster to his skating career and Victor's if he ever returned to competitive figure skating.

He took another sip of the beer to stem the silence that followed. 

The drinking continued in that bar with small talk mingled between sips and shots. Yuuri learned that Victor like pirozkis, hot weather and ice creams. He told Victor he liked the cherry blossoms, the beach and obviously katsudon. By the time the conversation had ended, Yuuri had finished four cans of beer and Victor had got increasingly more drunk on many shots and mixed drinks. All this liquid, however, had to go somewhere so Yuuri left to go to the toilet. 

When he came back, though, Victor was not alone. Yuuri peered round the door of the toilet. The press seemed to swarm him like bees after Yuuri left him. They probably thought that a drunk and alone Victor was easier to milk for information than if he was with Yuuri. The paprazzi's assumption, however, turned out to be correct. As confident as Victor was when he was sober, this confidence grew further when he was drunk. He seemed to be gesturing wildly about something and Yuuri's stomach sank as the arm flailing grew further until his shirt started to rise up dangerously close to where his mark was.

Mortified, Yuuri burst from his hiding place behind the toilet door and he grabbed Victor by the arm and dragged him out of the media frenzy into the street where they were free from the cameras. Yuuri needed to think quickly as the paparazzi would soon follow them out, but with the four cans starting to go to his head and Victor acting like a floundering fish on the other end of his arm, it was turning out to be a challenge to say the least. Distractions were flying around his head. Quick, quick, he needed to think.

He couldn't go to the studio as Minako would just take them drinking again. The ocean was too dangerous, they could drown. The Ice Castle was just full of the paparazzi anyway and they couldn't return to the house just yet that would make them seem like they couldn't handle a night out. Maybe he should go to another drinking establishment. Somewhere where the paparazzi couldn't go...

Should he just bite the bullet and enter a night club? The paparazzi wouldn't be allowed in there and he supposed it would be busy enough that they would be able to hide. Yes, that seemed like a perfect idea. He usually hated nightclubs because of the loudness and the fact that so many people would touch him but he was just tipsy enough that it wouldn't bother him. What a good idea. Most people in the nightclub would also be drunk enough to not remember them . Yes, this was a good hiding place after all.

His mark seemed to burn the longer that he held onto Victor and he noticed Victor start frowning and pawing at his mark too. Ugh, the stupid mark was just making everything complicated. It was this type of situation he had been trying to avoid. It made him wish he had never been marked.

He started to pull Victor in the direction of the nightclub, not noticing the weird looks that they were being given to him from the locals. He did try to run but Victor just ended up stumbling so he slowed down, still keeping a tight grip on Victor's arm. Whatever Victor imagined this night would be like, Yuuri thought it wasn't supposed to end up like this. 

They rounded street corners, dodged through market stalls and ran up huge alleyway until they finally made it to the nightclub. Yuuri paid for both their tickets and with their hands stamped they stepped inside. 

The smell of sweat hit Yuuri followed by him being dragged straight to the bar by his hand. Once they arrived, Victor somehow managed to order some cocktails despite knowing hardly any Japanese and proceeded to thrust one at Yuuri. 

“Just drink it, Yuuri.” Said Victor, drawing out Yuuri's name.

The drink was pink and glittery. It had a orange twist on the side and a sparkler. Yuuri was sure that this had an extremely high alcohol concentration but Yuuri downed it anyway in one go. Perhaps it wouldn't matter if he came into training hungover, Victor would be worse as he had drank far more than he had.

OK, maybe the alcohol was starting to take effect. Bad decision, he thought to himself as an after thought.

The alcohol in the cocktail hit his system more easily than the beers did, and suddenly the scent of the sweat didn't bother him any more. He watched as Victor downed his drink and danced into the crowd on the dance floor. Yuri just tapped his foot on the floor to the beat as well as he could muster. He wasn't going to dance tonight – he had to make sure Victor didn't get into mischief on his watch. As he watched Victor in his drunken haze he was suddenly reminded of all the things that made him love Victor as a child. The way the music just conformed to him rather than him attempting to move to the music. The way his body just flowed with precision even if he was off his face drunk. Wow, the beauty in his movements was amazing. He ordered the cocktail again, downed it and got his phone out – he really needed to tell Phichit his wonderful feelings and revelations about Victor Nikiforov.

He masterfully sent a quick text to Phichit.

> heeeellokj my bessssssdty fruend <3

>> r u drunk???  
>> also hello bestie

>i am notsdrubk

>>ok

> why do not u beliue h me  
> alLSO ii bhave to teellll u smth

>> what

> im out with vitya anad I jusrt rememberesdx hhwy he is so B EAU =t fu bln dducj

>> oko ok nice to know 

> <3 <3 <3 luv u Pjhicitt

>> luv u too Yuuri

“Who are you texting?” Victor slurred as he peered over Yuuri's shoulder looking at the phone. He must have just come off the dance floor. His chest was pressing into Yuuri's back and his heavy breaths slid over his neck.

“N-No one!” He tried to leap up from the seat but Victor was incredibly fast and he grabbed the phone off of him as he tried to stash his phone into his pocket to try and hide it. Luckily, Victor was too drunk to scroll up and was too offended to even read any of the other texts. Thank God. Otherwise it was going to be embarrassing.

Wait, Yuuri wasn't thinking clearly. This was going to be embarrassing anyway whatever he did.

Victor scrutinised the messages, it looked as if he was trying to stop the phone moving as his knuckles were shining white from holding it so hard. Yuuri could only imagine that if Victor was as drunk as he was, then reading would be a near impossibility. He giggled slightly and brought up his hand trying to cover it. He would be in even more trouble if Victor thought he was laughing at him.

Victor seemed to finally got the grasp of what the words were, when he screamed in Yuuri's face with the usual melodramatic performance which accompanied everything he did, “Why are you saying you love this 'Phichit'? I thought you never had a lover before? You liar!” 

Yuuri took a step back and tried to calm Victor down, “Phichit is just a friend, Victor!” He put more distance between them. He wanted to say more but his crappy drunk brain couldn't seem to string his words together. He looked up to see Victor squinting at the phone in disgust.

“You even used love heart emojis!” He said it as if it was the most incriminating evidence on the planet.

“I send everyone love hearts when I text people!” Yuuri argued in his defence. He made a grab for the phone, but Victor yanked his hand away and let Yuuri stumble into the crowd. Yuuri growled deep in his throat and just stormed through the crowd away from Victor, nearer the music. He found someone giving him the eye so he went over to them and started to dance with them. OK, his inhibitions had gone flying out the window at this point. Yuuri tangled his hands in hair and pulled the stranger closer. He never usually did this but Victor pissed him off and he wanted petty revenge. He'd give Victor something to be jealous of. 

Crap. Was this one of the bad decisions? Yuuri went along with it anyway. He would probably dance with a horse right now if it pissed Victor off.

He tilted his head back as the man grabbed his ass and pulled him closer so they were pressed up against each other from thighs to neck. He smiled gleefully and started to wiggle his hips in time to the music, making a point to look over and make eye contact with Victor as he danced. Victor's face seemed to flush red with either anger or embarrassment - Yuuri couldn't tell which. It was this moment when Yuuri was distracted that the man he was dancing with started to attack his neck, kissing and sucking at it. Sober Yuuri would have flinched away immediately but drunk Yuuri moaned into it and stared right at Victor trying to focus his eyes on him despite seeing double. Yes, this was working. He had made Victor jealous. God he was petty. Yuuri closed his eyes. The attention was good.

It was all pulled from him, however, as he was dragged out from his embrace by Victor steaming from his ears and a fury in his eyes. The man looked agitated at the situation but huffed off. Victor did not look like a man to be trifled with.

Yuuri felt scared of Victor in that moment before Victor whispered to him, “This reminds me of the banquet where your true eros was discovered.”

Yuuri couldn't think of anything about this situation which would remind him of the banquet but he went along with it and nodded, “Oh yeah Victor? How so? Was I making you jealous, huh?”

Victor clapped a hand over his eye, “No, you... you... made the other skaters challenge you in a-”

The music changed and Yuuri's eyes lit up, “Dance off! Victor, if I win you have to eat katsudon with me. You will battle me in a dance off won't you Victor.”

Victor's eyes hardened with the new competition, “If I win,” he proclaimed, “You must join me in the onsen and not give me any silly excuses. I know you didn't want me to see your mark.”

Yuuri grinned, “Ok! Just know that I am not going to lose – my dancing skills are second to none Victor Nikiforov!”

And with that Yuuri started to dance to the music. His hips moves sensually with the flow of the music and his arms moved with purposeful direction. It was obvious he had done that before and he was well practised. The other people on the dance floor soon made a space for him as more complicated jumps weaved their way in to the dazzling routine. It was a shame he couldn't dance with someone – that would have been the only thing to make it more exciting.

After watching for a moment, Victor joined in. He danced similarly to Yuuri and now they faced each other. Victor started to do the choreography from his routine to “Stay Close To Me” and Yuuri followed suit. They moved gracefully with each other and some bystanders even took videos of it. It was mesmerising. But Yuuri didn't want to lose this dance off. He changed the step sequence to something even harder and added more advanced steps from his ballet training. He was sure Victor couldn't keep up with him. The audience clapped, however when Victor rose to the challenge. 

Damn, thought Yuuri, why can't he beat him.

A thought then sparked in his mind. It was time for some underhand tactics. Yeah, he'd show Victor his real Eros.

He stopped trying to follow Victor's footsteps and sauntered in a straight line to Victor who was by then just stopping to look at Yuuri. Once he was close enough, Yuuri dragged Victor by the front of his clothes to a chair and plopped him on it with drunken finesse. He then proceeded to sit on Victor's lap so he was facing him and whispered in his ear, “Ready to give in yet?”

He didn't give Victor time to answer as he lifted his right leg over Victor's head and swiveled to his back was now to Victor. Slowly he stood up, sticking his butt in Victor's face and giving it a wiggle before he turned back round grabbed Victor's head pulling it back. He leaned down and licked a line up before sitting on his lap again, still gripping his hair. 

Victor's breath hitched in his throat before his mouth curved into a smile, “If you strip tease right here, everyone will know you are mine, but I know you won't. I would strip tease. That means I win.”

Yuuri, at that, leapt off of Victor's lap and pointed at him with disdain, “You can't do that it's cheating!”

Victor shook his head, “So what you did was fair?”

The onlookers were still watching them – obviously not understanding the spectacle in its entirety but enjoying the drama.

Yuuri blushed, “No but I can't lose!”

“Well, then if you won't strip, I guess I will so I win.”

Yuuri's mouth hung open and Victor stood up from his chair and walked forward to shut it with his hand, “I'm sorry piglet, but all's fair in dance offs.”

Victor started by swaying to the music and pulled off his V-neck exposing his mark. It was red and raw just like Yuuri's. Yuuri stared for a moment before he came to his senses and rushed forward to cover it up, rugby tackling Victor into the group of people that surrounded them. He forcefully dressed Victor in his blue V-neck and shoved it over the mark.

Once they stood up, a bouncer came up to them and escorted them out of the premises. It was clear they were not welcome in that specific nightclub any time soon.

Yuuri was grumpy after that. Not only did he lose the dance off, but his neck started hurting as he just remembered that the stranger he had danced with had attacked his neck like he was a vampire or something. He rubbed it absent-mindedly as they entered into the street. The cold air of the outside soon made Yuuri shiver. He had not dressed for this weather. Looking over at Victor, he saw that he was also covered in goose bumps so to resolve the situation he suggested yet another challenge. 

“You know what would be a good idea, Victor?” Yuuri said, as he moved to cling to Victor which almost caused them to fall into the curb, “We should steal that cone.” he said as they became more steady on their feet/

Victor's eyes lit up with excitement, “Yes! That's a great idea!”

He leapt forward to grab it but Yuuri had already jumped for it. There was no way he was going to let Victor win and he flung his arm out to block Victor. Victoriously, Victor's run fell short as the arm caught him in the stomach and Yuuri grabbed the cone. As he landed in a drunken mess, he clung to the cone like a koala. 

No matter what Victor said or did, Yuuri was not going to remove himself from the cone. IT was his and his alone. No one would separated them.

Exasperated in his drunken state, Victor somehow managed to call a taxi and place Yuuri in it (with the cone attached to him). The taxi ride was short and they managed to make it home in one piece. Victor dragged Yuuri out of the cab and into the house.

Mari was waiting for the two of them in the reception. Once she looked at them standing in the doorway, she started laughing uncontrollably. The sight was hilarious. Victor had the cone parallel to the ground grabbed tight to his waist while Yuuri hung upside down on it like a sloth with red marks all over his neck. It was quite comical and Mari was sure to tell the embarrassing story over dinner one day.

Yuuri could only see Mari slightly from his position and was thankful there was someone to reason with Victor to tell him to leave his cone again.

“Mari!” he whined, “Victor is being mean and won't let me take my cone. I won it fair and square.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a translation of Yuuri's drunk texts
> 
> Hello, my best friend
> 
> I am not drunk
> 
> Why do you not believe me?  
> Also I have to tell you something
> 
> Im out with Victor and I just rememered why he is so beautiful
> 
> Love you Phichit
> 
> ******
> 
> Hope you enjoyed <3


	4. Marks Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> eros?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am 100% commited to this fic and it will be completed so don't have doubts about that! Even if updating gets a bit sporadic at times IT WILL BE COMPLETED (im just not sure how many chapters yet).
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3

Yuuri awoke that morning with a horrific head ache. His mouth felt like sandpaper and his stomach felt like a garbage truck. What exactly happened last night? There was that hole in his memory again and that could not be good. The last time he got drunk, something happened which was so horrific that his coach wouldn't even tell him what happened. God. He hoped he hadn't done something like that again.

He even told himself he wasn't going to drink much. Yeah, that totally went to plan when he started on those horrible beers which just skewed his judgement just enough to drink even more. This was officially the worst way to start the season ever.

He looked down at his feet and noticed someone had taken off his shoes. That was nice. He wondered who did it for him. Maybe it was Victor, maybe it was Mari. He didn't really care.

Gazing down at his arm he noticed that the mark had become a brighter red colour and was slightly raised like a scratch. He rubbed it wondering if Victor's was the same all red and itchy on his ribs. He smiled at it and rolled onto his side but there was something hard and lumpy stopping him. At first he thought it was Victor because knowing him drunk, anything could happen, but it wasn't. It was... he blinked hard. A traffic cone?

OK, that was confusing. Why was there a traffic cone in his bed? It was dirty and muddy. What on earth had he been thinking when he dragged it in? His sister was going to kill him for bringing something like that through the reception and all along the hallways.

He shoved the cone onto the floor, flakes of mud flying everywhere, and got out to bed to go to the bathroom. He looked into the mirror. Oh crap. Looking closely in the mirror, he had hickies the size of Jupiter all over his neck and collar bones. Panicking, he desperately hoped they weren't Victor's. He didn't want to make things awkward when they had just become friends and was facing losing him to Yurio. That would be a disaster. What if Victor thought he was ready to get into a relationship? He was not. Definitely not. This was too humiliating. How was he going to turn up to training?

He didn’t have a scarf that wouldn't look suspicious on the ice, he couldn't ask anyone for concealer so he was stuck for options. It wasn't like there was anything he could do to make them go away either. Oh no, he was just going to have to do it. Katsuki Yuuri was going to have to display his neck for all to see. Yep, he had no shame. Not after last night apparently.

While he brushed his teeth, he had a strange feeling there was a bet of some sort that night. Desperately he racked his brains trying to think about it. He knew they left and went to this bar. Then there was the paparazzi. Then they went to the nightclub and he made Victor jealous... Oh man, that was where the hickies came from. Yikes. Then... oh God. Then it was the dance off. He couldn't quite remember what had been said but he could remember that he lost. What was the dance even about? He had no idea. It was a mystery. 

He finished brushing his teeth and rinsed off his toothbrush before he took some painkillers. After, he pulled on some clothes and grabbed his bag for training. If he lost the bet then he wasn't going to lose Victor as well. That was for certain.

****

Once he got to the Ice Castle, however, and entered the rink, Yuri was just staring at him as if he had three heads. Perplexed, he just skated onto the ice and started to warm up. He couldn't think for a minute about why Yuri was looking at him so intensely today. It felt weird to be scrutinised like that. It felt so uncomfortable-

Fuck. He immediately stopped skating. The love bites. 

In a flustered moment, he quickly tried to explain himself as he skated towards Yuri with a blush blooming onto his cheeks, “It's not what you think!” he started, trying to sound as convincing as possible, “Victor didn't- He didn't- it was- It was this man I met last night! Not Victor, definitely not Victor!” Wait did that make it sound better or worse? “Nothing happened with that stranger or Victor it was a mistake stop looking at me like that. I am an adult!”

Yuri just turned his head up and snorted, “You are such a loser, piggy.” and he skated away, leaving him to warm up on the opposite side of the rink, as far away as possible.

Victor arrived a few hours later just as Yuuri was practising his quadruple salchow. Unfortunately he didn't land it and ended up in a sprawl under Victor's feet. He smiled up at Victor before quickly scurrying away from him. 

It was then Yuuri realised that Victor was staring at his neck.

Oh no. A hand flew up to cover them but the surface area of them was too big – it just drew attention to them even more. He desperately hoped that Victor remembered how he had got the hickies, he would probably die if Victor for one second thought that he had given them to him. Ugh, his days just kept getting worse. He then lowered his hand and instinctively he pulled his sleeve down. Yuri still did not know about the soul mates thing yet and he would like to keep it that way if he was being perfectly honest. Any misplacement of his sleeve could be a disaster.

Once Victor stepped onto the ice he seemed almost professional. This calmed Yuuri as it meant he would not bring up anything that happened the previous night onto the rink. Or at least Yuuri could hope for the best. He still didn’t know Victor as a coach so reading him was going to be a struggle for a while.

When Victor started talking to them both, it then felt more natural as he both him and Yuri with equal coaching quality. Yes, the criticisms hit hard, but Yuuri relished in them. At least the past night would not be mentioned again and it was all about the skating for now.

Before long, Victor introduced them to the music. The first piece sounded so serene and haunting yet innocent. It felt like something that Yuuri could produce into something magical and amazing which would wow the crowds and gain him a high score. In an instance he wished that Victor chose this music for him, it would suit him down to a T.

The second piece felt like something else entirely. It was on fire with passion and felt so intimidating and aggressive that it just reminded him of Yuri. He could not imagine himself dancing to this for one moment. Maybe if he was drunk, but he was too timid and shy on the ice. He didn't have the confidence nor the ability. If Victor chose this as his music, he would give it a shot – he would give it his best shot in fact, but he could not. He could not deal with the disappointment that Victor would have if he couldn't master the feeling of this music.

So when Victor revealed that he was in fact using that music called “Eros” he almost fainted right there on the ice.

Luckily, Yuri had the same reaction and tried to start a heated debate with Victor, but Victor just smiled and got straight into training. 

***

Despite everything he did drunk, it was hard for Yuuri to master Eros sober. He looked down at his mark and sighed contemplatively. Again questions were running through his mind like wildfire and he couldn't really keep denying the existence of his mark – but Eros? Did Victor really think that Yuuri could master the feeling of Eros sober? It was such a strange concept for Yuuri to grasp. He had never had a sexual relationship with someone, yet he had sexual encounters but (bad Yuuri) was always drunk. 

Victor noticed this a few days later as Yuuri snubbed yet another triple axel despite Yuuri being able to land them perfectly. It was like Yuuri couldn't get the theme of Eros off of his mind and into the routine. Ugh, he always messed up when his mind was so preoccupied.

Victor skated over to him after the tenth time he failed the jump and grabbed his arm and dragged him over to the side of the rink to talk.

Yuuri looked to Victor imploringly, “I know I'm messing up the jumps – but I'm sure I'll get it soon! Please, I'll try harder let's keep practising, I know I can do it!” 

Victor who still had a hold of Yuuri's arm, let go before his eyes lit up, “We both know that is not true. Maybe what you need is to honour out drunken bet and have a nice hot bath – sort your mind out and then figure out how to portray eros.” 

Yuuri blushed a bright red and withdrew from Victor' gaze, “What! No, I just need to keep practising! I'll get it eventually! And what drunken bet? I can't remember making one.”

“What?! I won the dance off and in return you would come into the onsen with me. No complaining it's time!”

And with that Yuuri was begrudgingly taken to the onsen, leaving Yuri to train on his own despite his numerous protests.

Yuuri and Victor entered Yu-topia, trying to dodge the reporters staying in the Inn and went straight to the locker room. It was there where they changed into towels.

Victor looked up at Yuuri, “I still have some questions left from that game, don't I Yuuri.” He said as he took off his shirt, his mark bare to the world.

Yuuri swallowed hard before he answered, “Yes. I guess so.”

“Why do you want to keep the mark hidden? Are you ashamed of me, Yuuri?”

“No! I'm not ashamed! I just think that it wouldn't be beneficial to rebooting my career by peoplw thinking I stole you from the skating world. People would hate me. They'd think the only reason that you left the ice was to be with me. I'm not sure if that's the image I want to have when I go back to skating.”

Victor hummed quietly to himself and changed into a towel. Yuuri did the same and followed him into the onsen. It was soothing and hot on his sore muscles from all the failed jumps he had made that day. He sighed appreciatively, seeing Victor do the same, and placed a towel on his forehead. 

It felt freeing to have their marks out to the world with no shame. Yuuri still felt the urge to hide it, but there really was no point. He had made sure that Mari would keep the area free from reporters so that no one could come in and snap photos of them being naked together. It was a good feeling being free from this pressure. He stared a his name sprawled on Victor's side. It was at the bottom of his ribs on the right. It was strangely in his own handwriting and wondered if the writing on his forearm was Victor's.

He looked over at Victor, who had his eyes shut, head leaning back over the side of the bath and said, “I'm not sure if I can master eros.”

The simple statement made Victor sharply rise from his relaxed state and grabbed Yuuri by the shoulders, towering over him. Yuuri stood to meet Victor, water splashing everywhere before Victor cried, “What! I don't believe you. I wouldn't tell you to win with a theme that you can't grasp. When you were drunk you seemed to manage it fine -”

“That's the problem. I can't seem to do it sober!” Yuuri splashed the water with his foot, rising to meet Victor eye to eye on his tip toes, “This routine is going to kill m-”

It was at this moment the door way to the onsen burst open and ten or so reporters came in with cameras flashing.

Yuuri took initiative and dived back into the water with his head just above so he could see what was going on. But Victor. Victor turned around, torso bare, and mark out. It was horrific. Yuuri was watching it like it was in slow motion. Before he could even shout at Victor to get down there must have been about a hundred snaps of the mark. 

Finally, after a second of confusion, Victor also sank back into the bath and backed up to be next to Yuuri. The flash of the cameras stopped for a moment as they went to check the footage to look at the name on Victor's body before more questions started flying in.

“Victor Nikiforov, how long have you known that Yuuri Katsuki is your soul mate?”

“Nikiforov, is this why you have taken a year out of your career – are you retiring?”

“Yuuri, why didn't you tell Victor that you had the mark – or did you tell him which is why he ended his career?”

“How long were you intending to keep this a secret?”

Yuuri and Victor just looked at each other like deer caught in the headlights. How would they get out of this one. There was no way that they were going to answer any of the questions, nor were they going to get out of the bath. 

Then Yuuri's stomach sank to his feet. Now everyone would know about his soul mate. This would be so humiliating and disastrous for his career. No one on the circuit would like him – not that he had many friends anyway – and no one would believe him when he told people they weren't together. This was awful. His anxiety at competitions was now going to sky rocket – how could this happen? He thought Mari had some sort of control over these people.

Victor looked like he wasn't having a fun time either. His face had turned beet red and his eyes looked dead inside. Something Yuuri had not seen before no matter what context. It broke Yuuri's heart a little inside before his mark started burning like it was on fire.

He turned to Victor who was now also holding his side and he scooted over to whisper to him, “Is your mark hurting as much as mine is?”

Victor nodded, “Yeah, I think we need to go, don't you Yuuri?”

Yuuri just nodded, but there was no where for them to go. Desperately, he hoped that Mari would clear them away soon. Both of their marks hurt so much.

Luckily for Yuuri, Mari came storming in and promptly kicked all the reporters out of the Inn and banned all of them for life. Yuuri was relieved at first but realised that more reporters would come in their place and the Inn needed the money. 

“I'm so sorry Yuuri, Victor, I didn't think the reporters would be so vile! All I did was go out for a cigarette and when I came back they were just here. Anyway I hope you two have had 'fun'” Mari seemed to pant with exhaustion before she gave a half hearted wave and left them to it. Yuuri knew her apology was genuine enough to not be very annoyed. She wasn't perfect.

They definitely needed that time dedicated to relaxing and talking now. He was sure that the news would be all over the internet in about five minutes and he needed some time to prepare. But he didn't have a clue what to prepare for.

“Victor, what's going to happen now?”

Victor shrugged, “I honestly don't know. I do know how you are going to portray eros, however.”

Yuuri just looked at Victor with a blank expression. How could he be thinking of something like that now when his career was going to end.

“You should play it so it looks like you stole me from the skating world. Make the whole world hate you with a passion. Feed off of this hate, Yuuri and I think you will find that eros.”

Yuuri, again looked at Victor with a blank expression, “What? The world knows about this thing between us which isn't even that much of a thing and now you want it to look like I seduced you? How can you think of my skating career when it's been effectively ended?”

It was Victor's turn to wear a blank expression, “But Yuuri, this is perfect! With this and the face off between you and the other Yuri this will be-”

“Wait, there's going to be a face off between me and Yuri Plisetsky? Why didn't you consult me about this? When were you even going to tell me? I'm not ready for this – I don't even have a costume. I can't believe you told everyone else but me about this.”

Victor didn't even look surprised, “Crap. I forgot. No worries! Now you have your plan for skating eros, you'll do fine! Didn't you wonder why I was sending Yuri to the temple? He had to find his Agape.”

Now that Yuuri thought about it, he did wonder why Victor was being so relentless with the training. They were both as helpless as each other when it came to planning things and communication.

“The face off is tomorrow, Yuuri. I know that you know the programme inside out, there are costumes for you to choose from and now you know how to perform it. I'm sure you will be fine.”

It was at that moment when tears sprung from Yuuri's eyes he was not prepared he could not do this. There wasn't enough time! What was he going to do? This was the worst thing Victor could have said to him. He could not believe that this was happening to him. Oh God, he was going to disappoint everyone and anyone this was the worst. 

Tears dripped down off of his face into the bath.

Hand were suddenly on his face wiping them off. For a moment he was confused before he realised that it could only be Victor. Relieved he let Victor wipe his tears before he looked at him and said, “You really think I'm able to do this.”

“I would be lying if I said you couldn't.”

***

After an hour they went back to the rink to do some more practise with the new feeling of Eros. Yuuri still didn't really get it no matter how hard he tried so they decided to call it a day and go home. Yuuri was tired so he just went straight to bed. He would need the rest for tomorrow.

As soon as he flopped into bed his phone started ringing. He picked it up and looked at it. It was Phichit.

He answered the call.

“Hi, Phichit!” Yuuri said happily to his friend through face time, “I didn't know you were going to call today.”

Phichit looked angry, “Well I didn't want to find out through the papers that you have seen his dick once again and haven't told me! I want to know all the juicy gossip and I have to wait for sleazy reporters to dish it out and not from my best friend whom I love and trust.”

Yuuri felt a little guilty at this, “Sorry Phichit, I completely forgot to tell you its been so hectic, I promise to update you on all the news. So, number one, I have a face off with Yuri Plisetsky tomorrow and number two the whole world knows about our mark.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mark: bear  
> cameras : flashing  
> dicks : out
> 
> REPORTERS ARE FORCIBLY REMOVED FROM YU-TOPIA!!!
> 
> i was first hungover and then ill while writing this so its been a struggle but its here!!!
> 
> (EDIT: I'm gonna take a break from this but I'm writing a christmas victuuri one shot in the meantime. Also the next update on this should be before new years so its not a very long break lol)


	5. Surprise?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Victor's not the only one with a surprise up his sleeve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you it would be here before new years!! Hope you guys are having a good holiday season and this is enjoyable!

The next morning was the day of the competition and there was more than one reason why Yuuri felt sick to his stomach. For one, he didn't want to lose Victor if he fucked up the emotional element of the programme. He understood what Victor meant by using the revelation about their marks as a source of inspiration, but he still wasn't sure how to perform it. Perhaps he would have to channel that aura that came over him when he made Victor jealous that night in the nightclub. That would work.

He flopped out of bed and got ready to head to Hasetsu Ice Castle not knowing what would face him when he arrived. He pulled on his costume and looked at himself in the mirror. It was Victor's costume from his junior days. The fluidity of the costume in regards to gender seemed to fit how Yuuri experienced his gender. Never had he disclosed his gender fluidity. Maybe he would tell Victor if it was relevant, maybe not. 

He kissed goodbye to his mother as he left and picked up a gentle jog, making sure he would be partly warmed up by the time he got there.

He burst through the doors of Hasetsu Castle and went to find Victor and Yuri to start warming up. Despite the amount of pressure that was on him for his comeback, he would try his absolute best to not mess it up. Luckily, the triplets found him, after searching for a few minutes on his own, and led him to Victor and Yurio, who looked just as done as he felt. Yurio was facing away from the both of them with his usual anger and frustration plastered on his face while Victor was just contemplative in the corner. 

Victor didn't seem to notice Yuuri enter, so he just started his usual warm up. Nothing awkward was going to stop him from doing his best today. Despite the world seeing him and Victor in the nude together, he wasn't going to let the judgemental world stop him from doing his absolute best.

As he was finishing his warm up, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Taking out his ear plugs, he turned around. It was Victor. Yuuri immediately tensed up as Victor grabbed his wrist and let himself be lead away from the room to somewhere more private. 

Apparently, that room was the gents toilet.

Victor turned to Yuuri, “Look,” he started, his voice echoed in the small space, “Yakov has told me that I should leave Hasetsu immediately, but I want to let you know that I am not going to listen to him. Staying here will be my decision. I didn’t want you to worry about me going away because of the influence of other people. This decision will be my own – that's all you should worry about.”

Victor then stepped in for a hug and Yuuri let him. It was nice being surrounded by Victor in a comforting way such as this. Victor smelled nice too – like pine cones. All he wanted to do was stay in Victor's arms, but he had to prove to Victor that he was good enough to even deserve this affection.

Yuuri stepped out of the hug. Victor needed to watch Yurio's performance and he needed to complete his final preparations.

***

Yurio's performance was outstanding as Yuuri watched rink side, yet he couldn’t let that pressure stop him from performing his best that day. He needed to win for Victor. He needed to sell his performance to the audience. 

While watching Yurio leave the ice, he tried to steady his nerves. Breathe in and out. Count to ten. The reporters were already looking like they were about to pounce on him in the moments before he was about to step onto the ice - he really did not want to talk to them. 

Yuuri checked his phone. OK it was a minute before he was to go on, this is it. He could do this, he could-

“Yuuri, are you ok?”

Yuuri lifted his head to see Victor standing in front of him with a concerned look in his sparkling blue eyes.

He nodded, faltered a little, as he replied, “Yes, but can you promise me something?”

“Yes, anything Yuuri.”

“Will you promise to watch me? Promise?”

Victor smiled, “Of course.”

It was then where Yuuri launched himself at Victor in a massive hug despite the cameras. Despite the audience. Despite his career. 

Victor's arms snaked their way around Yuuri's waist and whispered into his ear, “I promise to watch you Yuuri. The whole world won't be able to take their eyes off you.”

Yuuri released from the embrace with determination, and set out onto the ice to start his routine. 

To make sure that the world knew he “stole” Victor, he faced him, smirking, making sure the audience knew that Victor was his and no one was going to steal him away. It seemed to work as there was an arena sized gasp and with that he started his routine. 

***

He looked for Victor as he completed the final step. Had he done enough to beat Yurio? Had he done enough to keep Victor in Japan?

But Victor was waiting for him at the side and welcomed him with a big hug. Yuuri squeaked in surprise, yet he melted into it. He needed this. He needed to know he had done enough – enough to make sure Victor was here to stay. 

And it was.

***

The next morning there was a heavy, excited knock on Yuuri's bedroom door. His eyes cracked open as he swung his feet onto the floor and toddled to let the person in. 

When he cracked open the door, he just blinked slowly.

Victor was stood there expectantly, dressed in his usual winter coat and scarf, looking like he was about to explode with anticipation.

“Yuuri!” Victor almost screamed, “Get dressed we are going to explore Hasetsu!”

“What? Why?” Yuuri was not in the mood to go exploring. His body ached from the previous days competition. All he wanted to do was eat katsudon and sleep as he always did when he won things.

“I have been so busy organising and settling in here that I haven't had time to look around so please get dressed we can go have breakfast and then sight seeing- I want to know everything about Hasetsu.”

There was nothing to know about Hasetsu but Yuuri accidentally slammed the door in Victor's face as he rushed to get changed. He knew Victor didn't like waiting. He decided on a dark blue knitted jumper and some black jeans before he put on a baseball cap. He couldn't be bothered to fix his hair; the hat would hide a multitude of sins. 

He reopened the door to find Victor sitting on the floor, playing on his phone. He looked down at Victor before he asked, “Um, are you ready to go?”

Victor stood up, nodded and off they went.

Yuuri took them to a little café where they both ate breakfast in silence – enjoying each others company. It was a very quaint café with big comfy chairs to sink into and low wooden tables. It was out of place in a town like Hasetsu, but it was a hot spot for tourists and made some pretty good food.

Yuuri ordered some waffles while Victor ordered some pancakes. They ate them in silence. Yuuri was not a morning person so he was glad Victor didn't try and make conversation. He seemed too busy enjoying his pancakes for that. He then wondered how Victor kept his figure. He ate so much food all of the time. If Yuuri did that he would not be able to fit through the gate into the ice rink, let alone keep a figure like Victor's. 

He imagined Victor with a podgy tummy. It was a very cute image, Victors little tum overhanging his trousers slightly at the belt, probably shouting at Yuuri about his sloppy free leg.

He laughed out loud at the unlikelihood of the entire situation. He supposed Victor worked out when Yuuri wasn't around. Yeah, that's how he kept the weight off rather than having a super human metabolism.

“What are you laughing at? Do I have something on my face?” Victor questioned. He got up his phone to use as a mirror, inspecting his skin for imperfections.

A red blush bloomed its way onto Yuuri's face, “No no no no! I just though of something which made me laugh – sort of.”

“Oh, care to share?”

“Umm...”

“Oh, come on Yuuri! You have to tell me now!”

Oh, alright, Yuuri had embarrassed himself worse than this in front of Victor. He could tell him.

“I was thinking about how if you had the same metabolism as me you would be a bit rounder and I imagined how that would look. I didn't laugh at that idea. I laughed because that would never happen.”

Victor gave Yuuri that smile which by now he knew was fake. Oh no. He was in for it.

“You think that I don't work for this body, katsudon? You think my body is like this naturally?”

“Well, I never see you at the gym so...”

The smile faded, “Oh,” Victor said, “That's true. Since you wanted to keep the mark private I started going to the gym at night for more privacy. I take my shirt off so, yeah, I eat what I want and work out much harder than you do.”

“Since the world knows about the mark, I don't mind if you want to work out in the day time. There's no point hiding it.”

Victor nodded like he had a stiff neck. It was clear that conversation was over and they finished their breakfast.

After that Yuui took Victor to look around Hasetsu Castle. Yuuri had been to the Castle hundreds of times as a kid. There really wasn't many things to do in Hasetsu other than skate or go to the castle and look at centuries worth of art, weaponry and history. It became almost mandatory to show everyone the Castle when he was asked what to do. Often he would guide the little children around to the exciting battles and fights while he left the adults to gaze at the slower parts of the history. He missed doing that. Perhaps he should try to do that with Victor. Maybe it would make his 300th tour more interesting.

Victor joked around with Yuuri that he wanted to steal a bit of art that had a cat on it to show Yurio. Yuuri just huffed and pulled Victor over to look at something else. He didn't want to be banned from here as well as a nightclub – he did live here afte rall.

“Victor,” he whined, “This is the boring part of the castle. I know where all the action is. Let's just go there.”

Victor scowled at Yuuri, “How can you call this boring? It's the history of where my katsudon lives. When I said I wanted to know everything, I meant I wanted to know everything. Don't huff we will do something better for lunch, I have a surprise.”

Yuuri's stomach almost turned at the thought of another surprise from Victor - his poor heart needed a break. 

***

“Hasetsu Castle was very interesting Yuuri! I don't know why I hadn't visited it. Anyway, lunch is on me.”

Victor grabbed Yuuri by the crook of his elbow and led him down a path leading out from the Castle. It was going into the forest which confused Yuuri - the market was in the opposite direction.

“Victor, where are we going?”

“Ah, it's your surprise.”

“And that is...”

“I'm taking you on a picnic spoil sport. I can never keep proper surprises from you.”

Yuuri hummed in approval and looked around at the nature which surrounded them. The trees hung over the path contorting it into a tunnel so the sky was barely visible. Light littered the ground as the leaves filtered the suns rays and the birds sang in the trees. It was where he used to go as a little kid in the summer when he had time to play with Yuuko and Takeshi. It was here he made his fondest memories off of the ice. The feel of the place enveloped him in a warm embrace of pure nostalgia.

He leant into Victor's arm to stop himself from stumbling over a tree root and instead of recoiling from the physical contact, he let himself enjoy it. For so long he had never imagined that he would be Victor Nikiforov's soul mate – he could at least enjoy it while it lasted. There was no doubt in his mind that this would end. If he didn't make the most of it, he would regret it for the rest of his life. 

When they reached the clearing, Victor put down a blanket with a flourish and heaved down the backpack he had been carrying. Yuuri was let go from the physical contact and sat down. Victor also sat down and distributed the food. There were piroshkis, bowls of katsudon in little food flasks, fruit, and coffee in a big litre flask. Yuuri wondered how much thought and effort it had taken to put it all together. 

He dug into his katsudon which Victor handed to him, still warm, before he asked, “Why did you choose this spot?”

“I was speaking to Minako and Mari who cornered me the other day. They said you came here to have fun with your rink mates when you were a little boy. Also, I don't think I could stand it if someone took pictures of us again. Yakov would probably make me into a piroshki if any more photos were released. Russia's not the most accepting place for same sex soul mates. They find it a mistake in nature.”

“Oh, I guess it's similar to views here then but none of my friends or family care. Also marks are weird, but they are connected to our souls so they can't be a mistake, can they?”

“I guess not. You're quite perceptive Yuuri. I'm glad you're my soul mate. Yakov doesn't have his mark yet so there was always a possibility it could have been him and I would have definitely have retired from skating for the rest of my life if that ever happened.”

Yuuri laughed, “I guess you would. Victor, I'm glad you're my soul mate too. I thought mine would be Yuuko. I was devastated when she wasn't but I'm so fortunate that it's you and not anyone else. If there was an expectation to try and have a positive relationship with someone I despised I don't think I could handle it.”

“Yeah, that did cross my mind somewhat.”

They continued eating in silence for a while, watching the birds in the trees. When they finished, Yuuri lay down on the blanket – assuming the prime position for cloud gazing. Victor lay beside him, their arms touching.

Yuuri pointed out a few which looked like elephants and felt Victor giggle next to him. Victor then pointed out a very podgy looking cloud and stated that Yuuri would end up like that if he kept winning medals. Now it was Yuuri's turn to giggle as he playfully punched Victor in the side. This light joking carried on for a few moments before Yuuri suddenly remembered the time. They were due at the ice rink for a general skate in a half an hour.

They then packed up and left, Yuuri clinging on the crook of Victor's elbow in the pretence that he might fall over an offending tree root again. Victor reciprocated the gesture somewhat and he hand came over to rest on Yuuri's. They stayed like that until they reached the ice rink where they were to spend the afternoon. There, they parted and put on some skates. It was a public session and they decided that a relaxed skate would put them at ease and put the love back into skating again. 

They entered the busy rink like the pros they were and skated next to each other effortlessly. After a few laps of the rink, talking about everything and nothing, Yuuri noticed a young child struggling onto the ice. He supposed it was the child's first time and pulled Victor over to help him.

The boys parents eyes them suspiciously, but the little boy was adamant to let the two men help him skate. Apparently he recognised Yuuri and wanted to be a figure skater just like him. Yuuri flushed at the comment and took the boy in hand. Victor got the idea and took the boys other hand as they glided over the ice. 

As a unit they skated around the arena two or three times until the child wasn't leaning on the pair for as much. The boy said his name was Zeke and he was on holiday from America. They then showed him how to skate in a straight line and stop on his own before completing a fun balance exercise using head shoulders knees and toes. They were careful not to let Zeke fall. Before long, the boy was skating between Yuuri and Victor around the arena with out using their arms for support at all.

Zeke skated independently to his parents with his arms in the air, showing off how proud he was of his achievements.

The parents thanked the pair with a handshake. It was then that the mother noticed Yuuri's arm and eyed it with disgust and quickly retracted her hand. She dragged her child and husband away, muttering in a distasteful tone. 

Yuuri dragged his sleeve over his mark. He forgot he had it showing. He almost turned away when Victor just pulled him into a hug. Yuuri looked up at Victor with tears in his eyes.

“Yuuri,” Victor whispered, “Please, never be ashamed of your mark. If I don't have to hide it any more, than neither should you. Promise?”

Yuuri started crying into Victor's coat, “I promise.” He sobbed, grabbing the lapels tighter.

Victor released Yuuri once the sobs subsided and led him by his hand around the rink. 

Even though they weren't together, they were connected by the mark and that had to mean something.

They ignored the looks from the other skaters and flew past them with superior skill. After a while Victor released Yuuri's hand and spun to be in front of him skating backwards and grabbing his hands so they spun into the centre of the rink. This made Yuuri laugh and he pulled Victor closer so he didn't fall over from the sudden imbalance. 

They clutched each other in the middle of the ice before Yuuri's stomach let out a huge roar of hunger. What could he say? He was always hungry.

“Dinner at the market place, my katsudon?”

“Won't that ruin my die-”

“Screw the diet for today! We're celebrating and I want some food.”

With this defiance, they went to the market place and bought some soup. Victor paid and they went to sit on a bench. Victor had his arm around Yuuri as they sipped the soup in silence.

“Oi! Dickhead!”

Oh no who was this? Yuuri looked up and spat out his drink.

It was an angry Phichit? Why was he here? He felt Victor retract his arm.

“You little shit! When you forgot to ring me, I was shitting myself thinking that you died or got eaten by Victor Nikiforov – oh hello Victor- so I booked a plane ticket from Thailand to here! Then you filled me in too late and I have to get on the flight as I've already paid and here I find you cuddling up to fucking Victor Nikiforov drinking soup looking all cutesy and you still didn't have the courtesy to ring me about that! You are the worst TM friend ever!”

Oh my God. Phichit did the thing.

“Anyway, we should have a sleep over, Victor, I'll tell you all of Yuuri's dirty little secrets.”

Victor nodded enthusiastically.

Yuuri wanted to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE!!! PHICHIT AND GENDERFLUID YUURI!!!!!!!!! (guess who's also trans) this fic won't be spared my smol trans hands
> 
> Anyway heres the update!!!
> 
> If you want insights to how new chapters are coming along, my original projects or art then pls follow my art/writing blog, samthetrashcanart!
> 
> There I post my YOI fan art, original art and updates of the progress of this fic and others so you won't be left wondering when the next part is coming out!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed <3 I intend to have at least five more chapters (could me a lot more though) then a little epilogue :)


	6. Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get drunk and steamy courtesy of Phichit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy this fun chapter!! It was probably the quickest I've ever written one (i wrote it in one sitting) and I also made use of a certain playlist of songs.
> 
> Anyway this is the calm before the storm moment :))))))

Phichit quickly settled himself on Yuuri's bed, “Less Victor posters then, Yuuri?” 

Flushing, Yuuri sat on the floor next to Victor. He had taken down all the posters as soon as he found out Victor had come to Hasetsu. It would be so embarrassing if Victor ever knew about his obsession with him had been so intense. In all honesty, he wouldn’t be surprised if Victor would run for the hills if he ever found out. 

He remembered when he came back home, he still kept all the posters up– looking at them wistfully. Since then, he wished he still had them up. They reminded him of simpler things when the mark didn't hurt every time they were near each other, and oh yeah, when he just didn’t have the mark. If he had the option of removing the mark... he didn’t want to know what he would say.

“No,” Yuuri started, trying to sound nonchalant, “I don't own any-”

“Well what's this then?” Phichit had just delved under the bed and found a huge stash of paper. Some slipped out of the pile and slid to Victor's lap who picked them up and inspected them.

It was at that moment Yuuri wanted the ground to swallow him up whole. He had hid them under the bed as he couldn’t bear to bin them. Why had Phichit have to mess this up? He knew Phichit didn't mean anything bad by his intentions, but it was such bad timing. He was just getting used to having Victor around and now he was going to scare him away by Phichit revealing his embarrassing crush on Victor. This was officially the worst sleep over yet and they still hadn't opened the vodka.

Victor cracked a smile, “Yuuri, you didn't tell me you were such a big fan!” He said after examining the one in his hand.

Yuuri buried his face in his hands, “No-”

“What was that? You want my autograph?” Victor somehow had produced a marker and signed the nearest poster, “I can't believe you've been such a big fan yet you don't have my autograph! Here have this one.”

Phichit laughed at the two sitting on the floor. It was time to crack open the fancy vodka he had brought Victor as a joke/gift (due to him being Russian). He poured some into three cups. No mixer, they died like men. He passed them around. Yuuri eyed his suspiciously whereas Victor downed his immediately.

“Hey, how about a game of truth or dare?” Phichit asked.

Victor nodded enthusiastically.

“What? Are we teenagers Phichit?” Yuuri questioned. He really did not want to play this game with Victor – Phichit knew he would do anything to win a dare.

“Winkey face.” 

“Phichit, you can't just say 'winkey face' out loud and expect me to understand what you mean.”

“Victor understood, didn't you Victor?” 

Victor nodded.

“Alrighty, then Yuuri, I dare you to down your drink.”

Oh no. Yuuri knew this tactic. Phichit was going to get him so drunk that he would do anything. This was bad. Oh god. He hoped this wouldn't end up like the nightclub incident. Yet, he had to do the dare. He supposed that Phichit had an even worse forfeit if he didn't do as he was told.

With a huge grimace, Yuuri downed his neat vodka. His mother did not raise a quitter so he suppressed the urge to cough and splutter as the taste hit the back of his throat. This was inevitably met with a round of applause. Victor was particularly supportive much to Phichit's delight. 

It didn't take even a second before Victor wrapped his arm around Yuuri and filled up his shot glass with even more Vodka. Yuuri froze but did not flinch away, even when Victor stayed there with his hand on his shoulder, rubbing it absent-mindedly. 

OK, it was Victor's turn to be a victim of truth or dare. He pondered in deep thought for a moment. What did he really want to know about Victor? He knew most things by now. He then decided to tell him to do the grossest thing he could think of. 

“Lick the floor of the locker room.”

“WHAT!”

“A dare's a dare Victor. You have to do it, otherwise you have to do a forfeit.” Yuuri looked at Phichit, “What's the forfeit, you haven't said yet.”

Phichit's eyes lit up, “You have to have all the players do a body shot, using you as the body. That is the entire salt, lime and tequila deal.”

Yuuri, who was trying to take a sip of his horrid vodka, promptly spat it out, “WHAT! We have tequila and you're wasting it on body shots?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to see you suffer and take a shot of vodka. The tequila is just for the forfeit.”

The attention was then turned to Victor who was suddenly the centre of attention. Would he lick the floor of the onsen or be used for body shots by Phichit and Yuuri?

The decision seemed to trouble Victor. Yuuri hoped that Victor would lick the locker room floor. He desperately hoped he would sacrifice his hygiene and save Yuuri from the ensuing awkwardness of the forfeit.

“I can't do it, Yuuri.”

Wait. Was Victor talking about his dare or the forfeit.

“I'm going to take the forfeit.”

Oh no. 

Yuuri watched in silent horror as Phichit produced the tequila, pre cut limes and salt from his bag. He ordered Victor to lie down as he poured the salt on Victor's stomach (away from the mark , thank the Lord) and the shot on his chest between his pecs, before placing the shot. It was all in slow motion like some kind of horror show and Yuuri was the monster's next victim.

Phichit turned to Yuuri, a manic grin plastered on his face, “Take your shot, then.”

This was definitely pay back for not filling Phichit in sooner.

As Yuuri was already on his knees, he shuffled over to Victor awkwardly. Victor was just lying there like he didn’t have a care in the world. He grinned at Yuuri and Yuuri lifted the corners of his mouth, trying to feign a smile. With his hands firmly planted either side of Victor's body, he hovered over the salt. 

Deep breaths.

In one smooth swipe of the tongue, he licked it clean off of Victor's toned torso. Mechanically, he took the shot, his hands steadying himself, planted each side of Victor's body. Last was the lime which he hoped that Victor would not drop. He hesitated slightly, hovering above Victor's face, before he took the plunge and grabbed the lime. He sucked it before he took it out of his mouth. It was disgusting.

It was Phichit's turn next. Watching, as Phichit skilfully prepared the next shot. He then took it in his stride. He was sure that Phichit had done much of this in college when Yuuri had gone and with it Phichit's self restraint. 

Now it was Phichit's turn for a truth or dare. What would he ask which would hit him with major embarrassment at pinpoint accurac-

“What was Yuuri like as a kisser?” Victor interjected through Yuuri's thoughts.

WHAT. THE. FUCK. 

Why did Victor think he had the audacity to ask Phichit such a question? That was horrendous. It wouldn't hurt Phichit in the slightest. In reality it would target himself. Maybe that was Victor's plan all along the cunning bastard.

“It was gross. Never again.”

“Was it that bad?”

“Oh no, not like that, it was like kissing my sibling. Disgusting. 0/10 never again.”

Yuuri sighed. That wasn't so bad. Not too embarrassing. He could deal with that. 

His face started going numb. The drink was starting to affect him.

Wait, it was his turn. 

“Down your drink katsudon.” Victor said, refilling Yuuri's drink which was more like a triple rather than a shot. Yuuri was definitely going to feel the effects of this. 

He downed it in one and Victor also did a smaller shot in solidarity and clung round Yuuri's waist like a drunk little puppy. He looked cute, his head in Yuuri's lap almost, his mouth heart shaped. It was adorable. 

But it was Victor's turn for a truth or dare question. Luckily, Phichit thought of one which was god awful but he was pretty sure that Victor would do. All Victor had to do was post an unattractive picture on Instagram. Perfectly innocent, yet would mar his online image of perfection. 

As Victor was now fully in Yuuri's lap, he asked Yuuri to take a picture with him, but Yuuri had to look good so the ugliness of Victor would be emphasised. He agreed.

As they were about to take the picture Victor drew in his chin, revealing seven hundred of them and screwed up his face, showing his teeth. It was truly a mug shot. 

In fact, it was the worst picture of Victor that Yuuri had ever seen. 

Coincidentally, it was also the best picture of himself he had ever seen. He should do that more often.

It was posted with immediate response from fans who found the whole situation hysterical. It also appeared to confirm rumours about the nature of Victor and Yuuri's relationship yet that didn't matter to Yuuri since it would feed into his performance at his first competition. 

Yuuri turned to Phichit, “Ok, I have another truth for you Phichit, of all the people in this room, who do you consider the sluttiest?”

Phichit laughed aloud for a good few minutes. He clutched his belly until he was just imitating a suffocating seal. Perplexed, Yuuri enquired, “What's your answer?”

“It's you. Mate, I know that you just, like, pick up anyone that looks at you. I'm sure Victor has a funnier story – but that's for another time. It's your turn now. I'm gonna get you good. I dare you to perform a strip tease for at least two minutes to the song Partition starting at 2 minutes in. You have to strip to your underwear. You're only allowed to your clothes back on if you get one of us to touch you voluntarily. If we touch you then we have to take our clothes off. Got it.”

Yuuri ran through the conditions through his head. If he took another shot, he was sure he would have the confidence to do a proper good dance. No one would be able to keep their hands off of him. He was not going to lose this dare – the room was too cold to be naked in.

“Yes, I'll do it. But I have until the song is over.”

Phichit nodded and turned on the song. Victor just sat with his legs crossed on the floor looking expectant.

Yuuri listened to the beat for a few second, slowly swaying his hips in time. He dropped his head to his chest and in one languid motion he lolled it from side to side before he quickly looked up, running a hand through his hair. Biting his lip, he stalked toward Phichit, who had sat on the edge of the bed and planted himself on his lap. Grinding gently on Phichit, he ruffled his hair then pushed Phichit backwards on the bed before leaving him.

His next victim was Victor, who sat on the floor with his face locked in a shocked expression. Yuuri smirked. This was going to be so easy to get Victor to touch him. He could be irresistible when the time was right. 

He circled Victor, grabbing his hair as he did so. When he was facing Victor, he yanked his head backwards by the hair and leant forward, “You can touch me, Vitya.” The 'Vitya' was whispered, long and drawn out as breath ghosted the shell of his ear.

In a silent victory, Yuuri watched as Victor became slack jaw. 

Laughing, Yuuri used his hand hold in Victor's hair to pull him towards his crotch and rolled his hips towards him tantalisingly slow. He heard Victor groan and pulled away to bend down and whisper in his ear, his ass facing Phichit, “If only you would touch me, Vitya, these clothes are hard to take off on my own.” Yuurr fingered at the collar of his shirt, then licked up the shell of Victor's ear and pulled away, leaving a very flushed Victor behind and descended on Phichit, who had since righted himself. 

Again, he sat on Phichit's lap and rocked his hips. He then started feeling up his own torso, the t shirt slipping up ever so slightly. Yuuri was doing his best to tease them, but enough was enough. In one swift movement, he pulled off his shirt.

He left Phichit, his t shirt in hand and went to circle Victor like he was his next victim. Yuuri used his t shirt like a rope and put it around Victors neck, as he put one leg either side of Victor's. He then collapsed down onto his knees so his crotch was hovering right over Victor's. Victor's breath was hot against his neck; short and fast. 

“Vitya, no one's giving me attention. Won't you give me the attention I deserve. I've been an awfully good boy.”

He dropped himself on Victor's crotch and he felt it was slightly hard. He smirked and whispered very close to Victor's cheek, “Happy to see me? Aren't you, Vitya? Shame you won't touch me.” He rolled his hips and Victor let out a guttural moan. 

Dear God, Yuuri was really going for it. There was no backing out now. He supposed that Phichit would never give in and touch him so he decided to focus on Victor. All attention on him.

He stood up and turned around, making sure to arch his back and stick his ass out in the hopes that Victor would grab something. 

It was then when he took the plunge. He undid his fly and pulled his trousers down to show his arse. He bent over to take the trousers the rest of the way off before throwing them to Phichit. Clothed in only his underwear he then heavily sat on Victor's clothed erection and rocked his hips. He was going to get Victor to touch him.

He tried talking to him, that seemed to work, “If you touched my, you would notice how hard I am for you.” He reached his hand down to tug at his underwear, “If only I could take off this restrictive underwear... What do you think, Vitya?”

Biting his lip, he batted his eyes at Victor, trying to look as innocent as possible in this compromising position.

Victor flushed hard but Yuuri must have hit a spot with his tactics and Victor's hands flew up to cup Yuuri's face and pulled him into a deep kiss. It was sloppy and full of the clashing of teeth and uncoordinated tongues, but it was passionate. Yuuri, leaned into the kiss which in turn pushed Victor onto his back, but the kiss did not break. They continued, Victor's hands coming up to cup Yuuri's barely clothed ass. He fondled with the waistband of them dangerously before they started to inch down-

“MY EYES!”

The song wasn't even half way through when Phichit turned it off in annoyance.

“You guys need to calm down!”

Yuuri smiled at Phichit before leaning back down to kiss Victor. It was fun. Why was Phichit trying to ruin his fun? Oh wait, they were playing truth or dare.

He got off of Victor and gathered up his clothes to put them back on. He collected his t shirt from the floor where he dropped it and put it on before he got to Phichit who was in custody of his trousers. 

Phichit, however, was pissed at Yuuri for winning the dare and therefore decided to not give him them. Yuuri didn't press this matter any further and just sat down by Victor who had stripped to his underwear for the sake of the dare. He had voluntarily touched Yuuri after all. 

Phichit then turned to Victor, “Your turn lover boy, I dare you to play slap or kiss. I'm sure if you now about Yuuri and I's kiss then you know what that entails. Please leave and I'll decide what to do.”

Victor was blindfolded by Phichit, who took one out of his bag of wonders, and tied it around Victor's head. He then shoved Victor out of the room and closed the door. 

“It's only fair if we rock paper scissors who gets to kiss Victor – or slap him.”

Yuuri agreed. 

After three fierce rounds of rock paper scissors, Phichit won much to Yuuri's disappointment which made him just take another shot of vodka in defeat. Then, he had a brilliant idea.

“What if he was slapped and kissed? That would be very confusing. We'll count down from three and then go for it. Just don't hit me because I'll obviously be the one to kiss him. He is my soul mate after all. Not yours. Mine. All mine.”

Phichit agreed (clever enough to stay in his lane and not make Yuuri jealous) and brought Victor back into the room who just knelt there expectantly. Yuuri leaned in close to Victor's face as Phichit got in position. With his fingers Yuuri counted down from three. The slap came first followed by Yuuri planting his lips on Victor's briefly for a second, then departing.

Victor took off his blindfold. He looked hurt and defeated, “I wanted to kiss my katsudon! Not get slapped and kissed.” he whined. 

Yuuri just laughed and leant in for another kiss, which Victor happily obliged. 

Phichit then left with all the alcohol while they were 'busy'. His work was done. 

*** 

Yuuri woke up squashed against his wall and something squidgy. He looked over to a mass of silver hair and his heart started racing one million beats per second. Wait, he had his clothes on. His heart rate slowed down. 

He didn't drink as much last night so he could remember what had happened, but he was still very confused. He couldn't quite remember the last bit. 

Oh well. He watched Victor, who was still passed out asleep, and decided that it was probably better to go back to bed. There was no escape from his position against the wall so he snuggled up to Victor and fell asleep again. 

***

The next time he woke up he found himself trapped in Victor's arms. Great, now he would have to wait wide awake for Victor to get off him so he could go to the toilet, he really needed a piss. He occupied himself by looking at his mark. When he was drunk, it didn't hurt very much, and now he was hungover, it didn't hurt at all. Usually when they were near each other it was like a hot knife had been put on his skin.

“Morning, Yuuri.”

Yuuri smiled, shaking the thought from his head, “Morning Victor.”

Then someone burst into the room camera flashing. Yuuri pulled the covers over both of them, hoping it wasn't a reporter.

“Wake up, dickheads!”

Yuuri relaxed, it was Phichit, “Go away.” he shouted with as much volume as he hoarse voice let him.

Pouting, Phichit responded, “What? No cuddles for your partner... in crime!”

Yuuri just buried his head in Victor's chest as Victor threw a pillow at Phichit.

Phichit left in a huff, “I'll see you guys soon, I'm so gonna fill in Mari on what happened last night.

Yuuri turned to look at Victor, brushing some hair off of his face, “Do you suppose we get up then, Victo-”

Victor grabbed Yuuri's hand to stop him, “Yuuri, we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so for a while now I've had a stripping play list on my phone and its useful........
> 
> ANYWAY
> 
> Featured on this play list:  
> Pony by Ginuwine  
> Gimme More by Britney Spears  
> plus many more.
> 
> Anyway hope this was enjoyable (gonna be in for a ride next chapter) !!!!!! <3


	7. angery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the two boys talk about their feelings in a roundabout way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so there is a flash back to Victor's tragic backstory at the beginning which explains why he needs to talk to yuuri about the previous night then after the *** it goes back to the normal timeline 
> 
> this chapter is short because it was intended to be part of the last chapter but then it would have been a huge chapter and harder to edit so I decided to put them as two seperate chapters
> 
> anyway we finally get some of victors perspective so pls enjoy :)

It was New Years Eve, just a few days after Victor Nikiforov's 21st birthday. He had been invited to his friend's New Years party (which was basically a formal piss up) and he knew that Stephen was going to be there. This was going to be the night Victor made himself known and for his love to be reciprocated.

Walking up to the apartment door, he slicked his hair back nervously. In the press, he was known for being a party animal which, in reality, was not the case. More often than not he was anxious as fuck, which was why he was incredibly relived that the door was opened by Chris Giacometti – his rival and closest friend. Chris was clad in only his underwear as per usual with his sunglasses on indoors. Victor laughed as he was waved in and a bottle of champagne was pushed into his eager hands as a late birthday present. 

As he entered, the walls of the apartment shook with the vibrations of the music and he opened his champagne. The dance floor (aka the living room with the furniture shoved to the sides) was packed and Victor got right in there, glugging his champagne as he intermingled with all of the party goers.

It was then he spotted him in between the other international skaters, laughing at what would seem like a joke one of them just told.

Stephen.

They were friendly towards each other, as they were often at the same skating competitions, but they weren't close. Not close enough for him to hug warmly, but not too distant that he would be completely ignored. It was as if they skated around each other, knowing there was a mutual interest, but not daring to become close enough to form a meaningful connection.

They waved to each other from across the room.

While Stephen wasn’t the most talented skater in the world, he was easily the most beautiful person that Victor had ever laid his eyes on. The way he didn't care about people who did him wrong but enveloped the people closest to him in love and affection, pulled at Victor's weak heart strings. In Victor's eyes, he was the perfect partner. It was easy to admit that Victor wanted Stephen to be his soul mate despite his lack of a mark.

Victor just carried on his drinking of his overly expensive champagne and dancing in the crowd. As he got progressively drunker, the less he could deny letting people dance with him. The more attention he got, the better it made him feel. He danced with men, he danced with women, he danced with anyone. But underneath it all, he really wanted to dance with Stephen and he knew that dancing with everyone was just going to push him away.

After finishing the bottle of champagne, he stumbled over to where Stephen was sat on the sofa, trying to avoid the messy drunk people who kept on threatening to knock his drink out of his hands. Victor flopped down beside him, trying to keep up a sober appearance, but failing hysterically when he tried to take a sip out of his champagne bottle and finding it empty. Luckily, Stephen laughed at him, playfully swatting his arm and commenting on how much he had to drink.

Then the count down started.

“10!”

“9!”

“8!”

“Maybe we should-”

“7!”

“Kiss-”

“6!”

“5!”

“That's a-”

“4!”

“Great idea!”

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

And then it happened. 

Victor kissed Stephen with all he had, trying to convey his secret longing with as much passion as he could drunkenly muster. It must have been a good kiss as Stephen eagerly reciprocated. Hands roamed over each other in a hungry scramble. It was hot.

They remained like that for the rest of the night – tangled in their passion. Victor thought he had made it - he had finally managed to find his soul mate despite neither of them getting their marks yet.

The rest of the night passed in a blur. 

Stephen had left the apartment early in the morning. There wasn't a note left, not even a text message. While other people were still there trying to clean up the mess, it was clear that Stephen was not interested in Victor in the slightest despite their alcohol fuelled kiss. 

Somehow, Victor had convinced himself that Stephen was his soul mate. The fact that Stephen didn't want anything to do with him made the rejection even sharper in terms of the pain it caused. For weeks, Victor cried himself to sleep. Luckily, his skating didn't suffer. The pain just made the emotion within it stronger.

***

Yuuri's mark burned alight on his skin, yet the overbearing weight of his emotions crushed any response to this 'we need to talk' nonsense. What was Victor doing to him? Was this all some joke set up by Phichit? Was this some petty attempt at revenge?

Phichit had been there for him throughout his major breakdowns. He knew what a talk like this could do to him - he wasn't ready. This was going to be the end. There wasn't even anything to end, yet Yuuri knew it had to come sooner or later. Victor would never be with someone like himself even if they were soul mates. It was ridiculous to even think that it could happen. It was all his fault. He had taken the dare far too seriously and now he had torn to pieces any chance of a relationship with his soul mate Victor Nikiforov.

“Yuuri, calm down.” Victor tried to use a calming voice but it just came off as patronising, passive aggressive even, “I want to talk about us. We kissed last night but I'm not sure if that was because you were drunk or not. It's not an unreasonable thing to ask about.” 

Wait. This was not what he anticipated. Yuuri rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling.

“I've kissed plenty of people drunk, Victor, but... I think I meant it last night.” Yuuri tried to grab Victor's hands but Victor sharply pulled his hand away. 

“Yuuri, you 'think'! I need more than that. I have seen you seduce random men, strip in front of me, and the entire night at the banquet was something else. How can I ever be sure you like me when all I've got to go on is that you kissed me drunk last night?” Victor made a move to got out of bed but Yuuri pulled him back by his wrist.

“Victor,” Yuuri pleaded, “I have idolised you since I was a child. I then hated you for being my soul mate. Then, I met you. The way you act towards me, taking me on picnics, holding my arm, I thought you wanted something more. I guess... I guess if all you can think about is that kiss last night being the only indication that I more than like you then you don't deserve to be my soul mate.”

And then Yuuri climbed over Victor's angry form and left, leaving Victor to cry alone in his anger and obvious frustration.

***

Victor sat there in bed with his thoughts reeling after Yuuri left. Why did he get so angry at him? They had obvious chemistry and the fact they were destined by fate to be together because of the silly little marks. 

He didn’t just want a relationship because they kissed last night under the influence of alcohol, he wanted a relationship because he was in love with Yuuri's everything. Although they have only known each other for a few months, everyday spent together reminded him of the reason he loved Yuuri. On the first day it was the way he blushed. On the second day it was his passion for food. On the third day it was his passion for skating. He could list all the reasons in a big book if he thought about it long and hard about it.

Victor Nikiforov was head over heals for Katsuki Yuuri and there was nothing he could do about it.

Then, when he tried to do something about it, it just back fired completely and he was left, sitting in his soul mates bed, crying his eyes out because he just ruined his one chance of ever being with him. This was just like the time a few years ago at that stupid party.

Except it wasn’t. Yuuri and Victor had history – which he didn't with Stephen. There was the fact that Yuuri initiated the kisses and had seduced Victor (not the other way around). Yuuri was obviously his soul mate and that had to count for something - it just had too. Fate had pushed them together, how could the fates then tear them apart?

He buried his face into the pillow, inhaling the smell of Yuuri, and sobbed until it was soaked in his snotty tears. He lifted his head to look at the damage he had done.

“EW, Victor, that is the grossest thing I've seen you do and you've kissed Yuuri.” 

Victor's head twirled around. It was Phichit, who stood at the door expectantly.

“Yuuri has gone to ballet, so he's not here to entertain me. Want to tell me what's up?” Phichit enquired gently as he walked over and sat down on the side of the bed.

OK, this was his chance. He took a deep breath and told Phichit everything that had happened between him and Yuuri. It started at the beginning when Victor fell in love with Yuuri at the banquet, then the video leading to him coming to coach at Hasetsu. He even told Phichit about the New Years Incident and how it was natural for him to have doubts. The hardest thing he told Phichit, was that he loved Yuuri so much that it physically burned him every time they were separated. To emphasise the point, he raised his shirt to show him that the mark was red and raw, like it would start to bleed at any second.

Once he finished, he turned to Phichit, who replied, “Wow, you really need to talk to him. Yuuri isn't that big of a talker. He freaks out at the thought of having serious talk, like when I told him I was trans, he was panicking as much as I was. It was quite funny, but then-”

“Wait, you're transgender?”

“Yes, but that's not the point of this conversation, the point is that you love Yuuri and Yuuri doesn't know what he wants at the moment. You were his crush, which he just stripped for and kissed, and now you give him mixed signals. I think anyone in his situation would be a little more than overwhelmed right now. Give him space. He will talk to you when he wants to. Don't try to force anything about the marks, either. He hates feelings being forced.”

***

Yuuri spent the day at ballet trying to get his mind off of what Victor had said to him by focussing on his flexibility. Why on Earth would he think that there was any doubt in his mind that he loved him? Of course he loved him with every fibre of his being. The drunk kiss may have been the wrong move in the course of their relationship, but it didn’t mean that it had to end. He over reacted during his argument with Victor – he wouldn't be surprised that Victor would want to get rid of him over that. 

Yet, he desperately wanted a relationship to form. They could take things slow.

It wasn't like they even had to be official yet. In fact, it would be nice to take things as slow as possible so he could focus on his skating and not even think about the relationship. A relationship would just be one hell of a distraction and he knew he would mess up his jumps if he was too distracted. Definitely not a good thing during his comeback year when he had to prove himself as a brilliant figure skater and prove that Victor had not wasted his time becoming a coach.

So yeah, they would slow things down a notch, focus on the skating and hope for the best. 

Who knew ballet was so good for working through relationship dilemma? 

*** 

Yuuri returned home from ballet just before it got dark. In the hallway, Victor was standing, holding something behind his back. 

He tried to avert eye contact but Victor caught him by his coat sleeve as he tried to walk past.

“Yuuri. I need to say something to you and I don't want you to interrupt me.” Victor watched as Yuuri's eyes widened, “Katsuki Yuuri, ever since I came to Hasetsu, everything you have done has caused me to fall deeper in love with you. I understand how the conversation this morning has caused you considerable anxiety and that's why I'm not trying to force anything on you. I just want to make my feelings known and it's up to you to reciprocate them. So here,” He held out some flowers that were hidden behind his back, “I got these for you. To say sorry and also to show I'm serious about us, Yura.”

Gasping in surprise and blushing profusely, Yuuri took the vibrant blue flowers and looked at them for a few moments before he replied, “Thank you, the flowers are so beautiful. I'm sorry I over reacted this morning. I really do like you, but is it alright if we take things slow? I want to focus on my skating and... well you know what happens to my skating if I get distracted.”

Victor grabbed Yuuri's hands, “I promise that our relationship won't harm your skating career at all. In fact, I believe it will add to your performance. You could make the entire world fall in love with you. Speaking of performing, do you want to choreograph your free skate now? Put the flowers in a vase and we can think about it before it's time for bed.”

Yuuri nodded, unsurprised that Victor could go from romantic to tough coach in a matter of seconds, calming his worries, “Yes, ok. Where's Phichit? I don't want to leave him on his own, he is my guest after all.”

“He's with Mari, gossiping about this silly band.”

Yuuri laughed, he knew that Phichit and Mari would hit it off. They liked the same things, including sharing embarrassing stories of young Yuuri and his 'adventures'. He shuddered at the things Phichit could tell her.

***

Yuuri sat on the middle of Victor's bed with a notepad open and a pen in his hand. He had tried to write something but nothing was coming into his head. 

He had never had the opportunity to do this before. He always left it up to his coach and always had complete faith in Celestino's decisions as he always did well with the choreography he was given. (Apart from last season, but that was his own damn fault.) But why was thinking about it so damn hard? He never thought that it would be as much hassle as it really was. Perhaps it was because he wanted the piece to be extremely emotional. Maybe that was what was holding him back.

Victor sat next to Yuuri and put an arm around him, leaning his head on Yuuri's shoulder, he gently took the pen out of Yuuri's hand.

“If you can't concentrate tonight, then how about some dinner and bed?” Victor asked with concern.

Yuuri nodded, “Yeah, it's been a tough day – hasn't it? And I've been hung over.”

Victor laughed, “Not quite the day to have deep conversations.”

“No,” Yuuri laughed as he leant into Victor's embrace, “It isn't.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you want regular updates on the process of writing this fic then ppls follow my art blog trashcansamart.tumblr.com !!!!
> 
> (also thank you for the kind comments !! they all make me rly happy)


	8. Phichit's Suprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phichit has a surprise and it's time for the first competition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sososososo sorry for the late update, school just started up again and it's hell. Hope you enjoyed this anyway. I vaguely go over the competition but only because it is not as relevent to the plot and we all know what happens hope u enjoy !!

The next morning was bright and the sky was clear. It was the perfect opportunity for the boys to go swimming in the sea without having to battle against big currents. The sea would be calm enough to relax in without the danger of being swept away considering that Phichit was not a very strong swimmer.

The reason for this was because as a trans boy he had to wear a t shirt to the each over binder. Some swimming pools were extremely iffy with letting him swim like this due to 'drowning hazards' so he never really went swimming. He had found a few places where he could swim but it was hassle and extremely dangerous in a binder so he never did. Therefore he wasn't a strong swimmer.

Mari had offered to drive them to the beach, but Victor politely declined the offer and wanted to soak up some sun before he hit the waves. He muttered something about appreciating the coolness of the waves as much as he could, but it was drowned out by Phichit's aggressive finger gun gestures at Mari and the ensuing laughter from Yuuri.

It was well known by Yuuri that Phichit was close with Mari. When Yuuri was in Detroit, his panic attacks increased expontentially due to being in such a different environment that Phichit had no idea what to do when they occurred and how to at least try and stop them happening so often. After becoming increasingly concerned and wanting to be there for his best friend, Phichit stole Mari's number from Yuuri's phone and called her to ask what to do. 

The long conversations about Yuuri's mental health, soon turned to sharing stories about all the embarrassing moments Yuuri has had since moving out to Detroit and Mari sharing details about Yuuri that really no one should know. It was a wholesome friendship and Yuuri only found out when he mentioned his sister in passing and Phichit couldn't stop himself from blurting out the truth. Since then, they formed the Yuuri Protection Squad and always had a laugh when they saw each other.

About five minutes after the trio's departure from Yu-topia, they soon be discovered that their denial of a lift had been a grave mistake.

As they walked, the sun's rays bore down on their backs relentlessly as they plodded to the sea with each step draining the energy out of them. It would be a miracle if they made it to the beach without one of them dropping dead from the oppressive heat radiating from above them. Each step brought them closer and closer to death. All they longed for was the privilege of air conditioning a car could give them instead of the warm heat being blasted at them by the cruel wind.

The end was in sight, however, when the blue sea appeared before them, sparkling. 

At once, Victor dropped all of his bags with Yuuri and ran head long into the sea, not bothering to take his clothes off. He dove in with conviction and hid under the waves for a few moments, not hassled that the others had not yet made it. He was free. He had finally made it out of the devil heat and into the heavenly cold waters of the ocean.

Yuuri set the bags down by the bench and glanced over to Phichit who was just standing, tugging at the bottom of his shirt. It made Yuuri sad that Phichit had to bind in this weather. The constant constriction of something around his chest often made it hard for him to skate on the ice as it affected his breathing, yet he needed to otherwise his dysphoria would get the better of him and he wouldn’t be able to compete. Usually it was the constant sweat which was the worst.

Yet, Yuuri gasped as Phichit whipped off his top and threw it on the ground. Yuuri could only just stare at Phichit's flat chest. When had he got that done?

Phichit coughed, clearly uncomfortable at Yuuri's stare, “I got top surgery when I was back in Detroit after you left. I thought I would surprise you!”

“Wow, you must be so happy! You've wanted this since I first met you.” Yuuri ran forth to tackle his best buddy into the sand.

They two boys tussled together in the sand, play fighting like the skating brothers they were before a set of hands lifted Yuuri out of the fight and was promptly dropped on the sand. He turned around to see Victor with that fake smile on his face, “It's time to swim little piggies.”

Was he jealous? Of Phichit? Anyway, Yuuri just returned the smile and started to run to the ocean with a huge smile on his face being chased by his two favourite people in the world. His and Victor's marks were out for all to see and so was Phichit's brilliantly flat chest and there was, for a moment, nothing wrong with the world. 

Yuuri plunged into the ocean and Victor was right there after him, pulling him into a hug which ended with sinking them both under the waves. Immediately, they resurfaced, laughing hysterically, before Victor accidentally gulped in half the ocean. Phichit stood at the surface, snapping shots of the disaster on his smart phone as Victor spluttered and coughed the water out of his lungs.

When all the sea was evacuated, Yuuri buried his face into the crook of Victor's neck to hide his laughter, but it did not work. Victor pushed Yuuri off of him and angrily swam further into the ocean to express his distaste for Yuuri's reaction to his 'near death experience'. It would have worked if Victor didn't look so pitiful trying to keep his head above the water – his feet only just touched the sea bed.

Phichit swam into the ocean moments later to join the other two and started a splash war in which Victor tried to valiantly protect Yuuri. This was turned on its head however, when Phichit and Yuuri formed a secret alliance and started attacking Victor from the front and behind. The strategy was working until Victor faced Yuuri and in one fluid movement, kissed his cheek. 

In an instant, Yuuri stopped splashing and his face turned bright red. Although they were semi official, that was the first time Victor showed him affection of that level and in all honesty, Yuuri was completely stumped. Perhaps it was the sudden realisation that Victor Nikiforov, his soul mate, had kissed him. Not Yuuri kissing Victor drunk – Victor actually showing affection to Yuuri sober and with a clear mind. 

There was a downside to this spontaneous display of affection. It was used as a distraction as Victor lifted Yuuri up and dumped him in the sea. 

Spluttering, Yuuri resurfaced. He should have felt annoyed, but all he felt was that warm fuzzy feeling deep in his stomach. This was really happening.

Yuuri swam to Victor, ignoring the splashes that were being driven by Phichit and enveloped Victor in a huge hug. There was no ulterior motive this time and they embraced tenderly as Phichit imitated a tsunami next to them, ruining the moment.

After playing in the sea for a few more hours, trying so desperately to have as much fun as possible and Phichit enjoying the feeling of the sun on his bare chest for the first time in his life, the trio returned home, soggy and tired. It was the best fun they all had in ages yet, sadly it was Phichit's last day with the Katsuki family. Even though it was the off season, he still had to train for the next one. He was going to make history by being the first transgender person to compete at an international level in figure skating history.

That night, the trio settled on some cushions to watch The King and the Skater as Victor had never seen it before. As Yuuri had seen it many times previously with Phichit when they shared a dorm, he fell asleep after the first half hour on Victor's lap while Phichit and Victor finished it. Victor then picked Yuuri up and put him into bed before going to his own.

*** 

The next morning, Phichit packed his bags and headed to the airport. It wasn't a sad good bye, more like a “If you don't update me on your life every 24 hours then I'll never speak to you again” goodbye. Phichit didn't need a lift so he hugged everyone goodbye (apart from Mari who he high fived enthusiastically and took and award winning selfie with. 

The atmosphere then changed dramatically as Phichit left Yu-topia. Suddenly, it was just Yuuri and Victor again. The real training was about to start and it was going to be tough. 

At the Ice Castle, Victor and Yuuri trained like there was no tomorrow. All thoughts of the mark went out the window as they focussed on preparing the free skate and perfecting his jumps. There was hardly any time to think about romance or soul mates. 

*** 

After weeks of waiting, it had finally arrived. Yuuri's heart was in his mouth as he signed for the parcel at the door. His hands were shaking too much to sign it properly and he thought he might pass out with excitement and fear as the two conflicting emotions skated through his mind. What if the costume did not fit him? What would happen then? There was no time to sort out another costume and he would feel so guilty for having to use one of Victor's again.

Trying desperately (but failing) to disregard his anxieties, he hurtled through the house into the kitchen. Due to the adrenaline pumping through his body, his hands were shaking too much to put the box down carefully. Instead, Yuuri dropped the box, making Victor's teppid soup splash onto his fresh robe. 

“It's here!” Yuuri shouted, unable to control his own voice and making Makkachin jump.

Victor put down his spoon and picked up the box with his hands, examining it carefully, he then offered it to Yuuri, “Do you want to do the honours and open it?”

Looking down at his shaking hands, Yuuri replied, “Um, I don't think I can at the moment, can you open it, please?”

Yuuri knelt down by Victor's side as he carefully peeled the sellotape off of the box and lifted the lid. Inside was it. The costume for his free skate comeback. He lifted it out and stared at the beauty of it, the fabric vibrating from the shaking and tears forming in Yuuri's eyes.

“It's beautiful.” Was all Yuuri could say as Victor took Yuuri's hands in his own, steadying them to see the outfit in its entirety. 

“Wow! Amazing!”

*** 

The morning of the Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship, Yuuri felt confident that he had a good chance of placing on the podium but also extremely nervous of making his first competition with Victor as his soul mate.

To the world, they were the controversial power couple of the skating world. Katsuki Yuuri, stealing the five time world champion to be his coach and soul mate. Some saw it as romantic while others saw it as a selfish move fueled by ulterior motives.

In reality, it was nothing of the sort. While they were affectionate towards each other more than they were before, it had never developed into something more than a mutual love and affection. Nothing above a kiss on the cheek or a cuddle on the sofa. All the affection they showed was at a comfortable level for them both. Yet, in public, they had to sell the performance in order to improve the effect of Yuuri being a seductive mastermind, stealing the precious Victor from the world.

This didn't mean much in reality. The competition was only regional meaning that is was quite a low profile event. Only a few reporters would be there and they didn't really care about them as a couple, more on his performance at the event. 

That was why, when Yuuri drew his first spot, it was like the world seemed to crash down onto him. It was his first competition in a while and he always got nervous but going first made it so much worse. It seemed to go further downhill when he couldn't even remember the name of the competitor who beat him in nationals in the previous year. Apparently, it was Minami Kenjiro. Perhaps he would have to look out for that name in the future.

The interview before the practise did little to calm his nerves either. Victor was proud to announce that he was going to beat his personal best when in reality that did not calm Yuuri down. Instead it made him feel that he was going to break down and cry. Didn't Victor remember what happened last year at Nationals?

With the added pressure of having the mark this year, he wasn't sure at all on how he was going to fare.

He went out and tried to focus his mind. He practised his Eros routine but when he noticed Minami staring at his arm he stopped to cover it. He could not focus no matter how hard he tried. This was not a good start to the season.

The warm up ended and he sat down to put on his blade guards. In that short span of a minute he had lost Victor. Where had he gone? The competition was about to start and he was going to go first and he needed his coach. He ran through the venue until he saw Victor. Surrounded by fan girls and spectators dressed in a sharp black suit.

Yuuri's jaw dropped the the ground. How could Victor upstage him like this? He grabbed Victor's hand and pulled him back to the venue. It was time for the six minute warm up. 

When all the other skaters had left the ice Yuuri skated back to Victor for any last minute advice. Instead he was just instructed to turn around. Perplexed, Yuuri did so and immediately he was hugged from behind. At home this was a semi normal occurrence, but in public, this was weird. Immediately the cameras had started flashing and Yuuri knew that this was part of the performance and went off to seduce Victor with all he had.

He skated to his starting position and in as the music started, the seduction began.

*** 

He scored a personal best. This was better than he could have imagined! Yet, Victor was scolding him. Of course, he expected more and more from Yuuri. Especially since he 'wasn't under pressure' but in some ways he was. He had to deal with the pressure of being a skating legends soul mate and the being the reason the skating legend left the figure skating world for a year. Now, he knew that wasn't the reason, but in the eyes of the public the real reason was irrelevant.

The free skate was next and Yuuri would go last as it was in reverse order. It was time to watch Minami. He had missed his short programme due to an interview but had never got to see him perform live. He missed it at nationals too because he was too anxious to watch any other performer. 

The performance, however, reminded Yuuri of himself. It reminded him of his little inconsistencies but the raw passion still shone through the performance. In many ways, it made Yuuri proud that he knew that Minami could be a great skater if he worked hard enough. In fact, he could be one of the best.

All too soon, it was his turn to skate. Victor noticed that his lips were chapped and put on some lip balm for him. In the corner of his eye, he noticed that Minami was just staring at him in glee. Was he a fan boy of Victor or something? He was so over them. 

He skated to the middle of the rink. Victor had told him to lower the difficulty of the jumps. He didn’t care what Victor was going to say to him about it. He needed to prove something to himself, that he could be an inspiration to others. 

*** 

That was it, Katsuki Yuuri had won his first competition of the season. He was buzzing from the performance, it was the first time he had enjoyed it. Smiling, he tucked into his bowl of katsudon as a reward for his win and gazed at Victor opposite him. Victor was taking pictures of almost everything Yuuri did now. Apparently to look back in a few years and document Yuuri's rise to skating stardom. Personally, Yuuri thought it was utter bull but Victor enjoyed doing it so he let him take the pictures.

After dinner, Yuuri just went straight to bed. Victor had wanted to stay up and watch a film but Yuuri was shattered. The first public outing as soul mates and sort of unofficial partners was exhausting having to think about everything so carefully, to act just right.

For the millionth time since the mark had appeared, he ran his fingers over the slightly raised bumps and lines which spelt out Victor Nikiforov in Victor's handwriting. It felt strangely intimate to have someone else's hand writing sprawled on his arm, yet it was also incredibly public. The whole world seemed to be talking about it and it was the hottest news of the skating world. He didn't feel very comfortable with it in reality. What happened between him and Victor should have been strictly personal. Why did it have to be like this? Couldn't his lover be someone not famous?

No. He shouldn't be thinking that way. Yuuri was incredibly thankful for Victor being his soul mate. He was so so lucky. Imagine if it had been Yakov. That would have been awful.

Yuuri set down his glasses on his counter and drifted off into a deep sleep.

*** 

When he woke up, he was met with a blob inches from his face. Was it Victor? Was it Makkachin? He couldn't quite tell.

Fortunately, it was Makkachin as he deduced from the wet lick he received across his cheek. How disturbing would it have been if Victor was just watching him sleep and licked him? 

Patting the poodle on the head, he swung his legs over the side and stumbled into the kitchen for some breakfast. There was no point looking at the time as it was probably the afternoon and Victor let him sleep in so the time didn't matter.

As he settled to eat his food, Victor suddenly draped his arms over Yuuri's shoulders and nuzzled into the crook of Yuuri's neck. Still not quite used to the physical contact, Yuuri blushed to the tips of his ears.

“Do you know what time it is?” Victor whispered into Yuuri's ear.

“No, but I'm sure you're about to tell me.” Yuuri retorted.

“It's just past one so not too bad, but it's also time to start putting in the work for the next competition!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPE YOU LIKED FURTHER EXPLORATION INTO TRANS PHICHIT!!
> 
> DISCLAIMER : I AM NOT CONDONING BINDING AND SWIMMING/DOING ANY SPORT AT ALL ALSO PLEASE BIND WITH A BINDER FROM A REPUTABLE COMPANY LIKE GC2B OR UNDERWORKS!!!!!
> 
> As a trans boy who also performs at a high level sport (black belt jujitsu) being trans has always been an issue, however sporting guidelines suggest that as long as there is no 'biological' advantage or disadvantage in competing with your 'prefered gender' then you can compete. This must have meant, however, that Phichit would have had to have gone on hormone blockers at 11 and started T around 14/15 to prevent any disadvantage to him competing in mens singles figure skating.
> 
> I am not on T but my sport trains regardless of size and gender but I used to do long distance running and rugby which I had to stop because I was not on T and the mental distress it caused me being on a girls team was too high. So that is my explanation of how Phichit it feasibly allowed to compete while being trans. Top surgery would not be an advantage or disadvantage so thats why he was able to have that done later in his life. I didn't want to go into it too much in the fic but heres some info ! 
> 
> Hope it's all clear! You can reach me on my art/project blog @ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/trashcansamart
> 
> <3


	9. Scandal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hackers and Phichit's icloud account do not mix well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IVE UPDATED!!! yes the chapter is a little short but we r back on track!!
> 
> EDIT: Tw for homophobia (there bad tweets and u can scroll past them without worrying abt losing track of the plot)

The day started out gloomy and it appeared it was going to carry on that way for quite a while. It was raining hard, as a storm off the coast was brewing, and it looked like it was only going to grow in size and power. Yet, Victor had insisted on biking to training in the 60mph winds and making Yuuri trail behind battling the elements with determination as wind buffeted his body. In Yuuri's mind, he looped the thought: the faster he can ran, the faster he can get out of the wind.

He blasted through the doors, not waiting for Victor to lock up his bike outside and deal with the battle about putting the seat cover on, before glancing down at his phone. It would be unlikely that he would be able to have a look at it all day if they were going to train as hard as Victor had been hinting at.

Oh. 

He had over a hundred missed calls from Phichit. There was no text message. Only a single voice mail was left. 

Yuuri, I'm so fucking sorry. I was so so so stupid. I can't believe I kept the stupid photos. Oh my god, I am so so sorry. Someone must have hacked my cloud account and got a hold of them. I assume you haven't looked at your phone, otherwise you would have replied to my calls, but I really don't think you should even have your phone turned on. Yuuri, I'm so sorry but remember that game of truth or dare? Well, I might have taken some drunken photos – but I assure you I was going to delete them I swear. They were of you and Victor – of you-- and-- you were-- and you were kissing and stripping and they are all on the internet. It's even broke out of the skating sphere into those sleazy gossip mags. Don't go out and find them please, I bought as many as I could so less people could read them, so please don't. I know what things like this can do to you. Just turn off your phone, come to Thailand if you need to get away from Victor or need me. I'm so sorry the photos got leaked. I didn't do it, I swear, and the police are investigating but the pictures are already uploaded, I'm so fucking sorry Yuuri. I love you so much, I would never try to hurt you like that - God I'm so sorry.

By the end of the voice mail, tears were freely streaming down Yuuri's face. There was no sobbing, just shock. His gut reaction was to be angry at Phichit, but the sound of sobs in the message had told him that Phichit wasn't being malicious, it was a complete accident on Phichit's part. In reality it was a stupid and malicious attack on Yuuri through Phichit. Maybe it was someone who knew them.

Quickly, he sent a message saying he was turning his phone off so Phichit would stop worrying and sat down on the bench by reception. 

This was it, his skating career was ended. No judge would take him seriously now the photo's were leaked. He knew how prejudiced they could be if they did not fit the stereotype of the perfect figure skater. He just knew he could not win now and it would be better if he would just retire – Victor had sabotaged his whole career for a screw up.

With that thought, he left the Ice Castle, brushing past Victor as he burst through the doors into the storm and readied himself for a life of solitude in his bedroom.

*** 

A few hours later, Victor knocked on the door, apparently he saw the pictures but he didn't mind them. Yuuri threw books at the unopened door so Victor got the message and left. He didn't want to be confronted with Victor at the moment. First, he needed to know what he was dealing with so he could know how much to freak out. At the moment, he was in his standard mess. Isolated, crying, feeling nauseous – but perhaps it wasn't as bad as Phichit had made it out to be. Maybe it was worse. Maybe it was so bad that he would be recognised only as the slut who had seduced Victor Nikiforov for his own selfish needs and he could never leave his own house again, let alone skate. He would also have to start covering his mark up again. That was too recognisable.

Against his own best judgement (and Phichit's), he turned on his phone and pulled up his twitter feed. He was flooded with mentions. Oh no. Some of them were truly awful.

Some of the less favourable ones read:

wow completely lost my respect for @katsukiyuuri hope he loses all future competitions

disgusting – gay couples r just wrong idc if theyre soul mates its gross @katsukiyuuri @vnikiforov

now we know how @katsukiyuuri is paying for @vnikiforov to be his coach 

@katsukiyuuri was my sons idol – definitely not cheering for him at the cup of china after seeing what he gets up to off the ice

While others were more supportive:

get it @katsukiyuuri grab that russian ass

u can see the marks in this photo @katsukiyuuri @vnikiforov its so cute! #lovewins

now I see where the eros comes from! @katsukiyuuri ur so beautiful !

All in all, every single comment was so overwhelming, that he just had to call Phichit. It was only a few weeks until the Cup of China and he needed to get over this awful bump in the road. Even with the bad comments, the good ones were mainly from other figure skaters and true fans; in reality it wasn't as bad as he had expected. Still, the horrid tweets weighed on his mind and crushed any hope at returning to competitive figure skating. He couldn’t carry on with this weighing down on his shoulders. 

“Phichit, thank God you picked up. I didn't take your advice-”

“You donut! I told you not to-”

“But I'm glad I didn't! I really needed to know what people really think. So I've came to a decision to quit figure skating and become a librarian!”

“Yuuri, I'm at practise so I can't talk long, but that is the worst plan I have ever heard. Talk to Victor and take it from there. Sleep on it before you do anything, though. I'm sorry this is short but I'm finally nailing my quads and I have to practice more. Bye, remember that I love you lots. You've always got me to fight your corner.”

***

Yuuri was fiddling about with the corner of his blanket, when he heard a tentative knock on the door. On the one hand, he hoped that it was Victor, because then they could get the talk that Phichit had suggested out of the way, but on the other he just wanted to get away from Victor and fly to see his best friend in Thailand. The anxiety of the entire situation was clawing at his stomach and it wasn't likely that he could stand it much longer without self destruction.

He mumbled an invitation into his room and saw Mari, holding a bowl of soup and some DVDs. At first, Yuuri had thought Victor had gone home and Mari was here to break the news, but Mari soon stopped his worrying. She had simply told Victor to give him some space and that she would handle the immediate reaction. Yuuri was sort of thankful. He knew that Mari was a great help in situations like this where Yuuri was too anxious to eat or he kept fixating on certain thoughts. Phichit would have done the exact same things – he didn’t need to go to Thailand after all.

Mari picked up the laptop off of the desk and put it on the bed. She popped in one of Yuuri's all time favourite films and snuggled up next to her brother. She didn't say anything and handed yuuri the soup. This is what he needed. Someone to comfort him and quietly distract him. He found that it was the best technique when the situation was tough and complex.

With the blanket drawn over him and the soup finished, he felt warm and protected. His sister by his side was enough for him to feel safe enough to drift into a deep sleep. But sleep and his sister beside him didn't quell the internal anxiety. His dreams showed the audience and the competitors at the Cup of China taunting him with ugly words of slander. It then transformed so he was in the rink, he had forgotten to put on his skates and his feet were frozen solid onto the ice. The music started and he couldn't move, he couldn't move his feet. The audience started to boo and Victor's face was the worst reaction of all. He had left the arena, but not before giving him the most disappointing stare he had ever received in his life. 

The ice beneath him began to shake and suddenly he was back in his room. No light was coming through the window, so it was still night, and Mari was still beside him, snoring softly. Calm in the knowledge that Victor had not left him yet and his feet were not stuck onto the ice, he cuddled the blanket and turned back to sleep. 

*** 

Jogging to the ice rink the next day, he noticed that the storm from yesterday had subsided a little and now there was just a slight drizzle, making his hair wavy. Perhaps it was moving away from Hasetsu as the weather reports had shown the storm getting bigger before it subsided. He ducked into the reception and made sure to avoid Yuuko as he went to warm up on the rink.

To calm his mind and think of what to say to Victor when he would confront him later at home, he went through some techniques which he could do in his sleep by now. They were just little drills he used to do with Yuuko when he was just learning to skate. It reminded him of simpler times when he and Yuuko would synchronise just right, and they would glide along the ice as one. If Yuuko had wanted to become a professional, perhaps they would have done pair skating, but Yuuri had started to rise in status as a singles skater and Yuuko had to focus on school before she unexpectedly become pregnant with triplets. It was not in the stars for them. 

Thinking about Yuuko triggered the memory of Takeshi pushing him over. At the time, it wasn't funny, but looking back, it was hilarious. To think that Takeshi was jealous of his friendship/childish crush on Yuuko was quite ironic seeming that Yuuri was relatively a lot younger than Yuuko and also was not her soulmate. 

The memories of what used to be seemed a world away from the issues he was facing now.

So wrapped up in memories old and new, he did not notice a second person skating beside him. At first thought, he thought it was Yuuko, based on the way they moved together, yet as he turned to complete the next move, he saw it was Victor. 

Floored, he stopped what he was doing. Victor stopped too. It was time to talk. 

Silently, Victor skated over to where Yuuri had stopped on the ice and halted just short of Yuuri. Perhaps he wanted to stay out of arms reach incase Yuuri's arm gestures became too flamboyant in rage or passion or he just was taking Mari's advice and giving Yuuri space. Yeah, the latter was much more likely.

Victor moved his hand slightly, as if to hold Yuuri's, but he withdrew it quickly, knowing that Yuuri would just pull away from the contact. The awkward silence permeated the rink and the cold grew colder. Goose bumps appeared on Yuuri's arm and he pulled the sleeves of his hoody down, out of habit and shame. He did not deserve to be Victor's soul mate. He did not deserve the mark.

“Yuuri...” Victor said, the usual cheerful lilt gone and the sincerity of Victor's feelings came through, the understanding, all through just saying his name.

“Yuuri, I know you are a private person and you needed time to think about this, but I don't care one bit about the world seeing those photos. It was an extremely private moment and I too am incredibly pissed off about it. Not at Phichit, but at the awful hacker and the horrid people who were insulting you on twitter. I swear down that I will kill the bastard who made you feel awful enough to isolate yourself. Thinking as your coach, I would recommend a press release, like Yakov would do for me - but of course, I would run it by you if we decided to go with that plan. Eventually this storm will blow over and we can get back to normal.”

Yuuri pondered the words in silence for a few moments before replying, he had never seen Victor so angry yet composed before, “I think what you've said is a good idea, but I think it would be better just to stay silent about it. Let the police find the suspects and it will all be forgotten about. I'd rather just focus on getting my skating good enough to be worthy of going to The Cup of China. Focussing on the event would just push my anxiety through the roof, in all honesty.”

Victor stepped into Yuuri's personal space and cupped his cheek, Yuuri flinched slightly at the touch but then leant into it, “If that's what you feel comfortable with, then I support that one hundred percent.”

Blushing, Yuuri kissed Victor on the cheek and wrapped his arms around Victor, “Thank you, I don't deserve you.” and this time, he sort of didn't mean it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK PLS READ : I WILL UPDATE THIS FIC EVERY TWO WEEKS - THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE POSTED ON THE 20th FEB
> 
> Thank you for reading as always, if you want to follow my art/project blog for more details about the fic's progress you are more than welcome to;  
> https://trashcansamart.tumblr.com/
> 
> Also if you want to follow my main blog, I'm also happy with that:  
> http://transparentlycisstressed.tumblr.com/


	10. Fun times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the night before the Cup of China Short Programme, how will Yuuri cope?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated on time! But because of school chapters will unfortunately be a bit shorter but still be released regularly. 
> 
> ANyway here you go....

The plane ride to the airport was uneventful. The taxi was on time, the flight wasn't delayed and they got there with plenty of time to spare. Due to that, no reporters were at the airport and it went smoothly. It was useful because Victor did not want Yuuri to become overly anxious due to a bad experience with the press or some rude fans. He knew from previous occasions that a bad mindset going into competitions would mean a bad performance; he linked his mind back to the last Grand Prix Final. Yes, he needed to protect Yuuri from that as much as possible in the lead up to the competition.

After they landed and checked into the hotel, Yuuri started to pace the hotel room. He was so anxious about just about everything. For one thing, there was no news at all about the person who had leaked the photos, that would mean annoying questions from the interviewers in which he would have no answer. Then, of course, there was the nature of the questions. That moment was always made to be private and not shared with others, yet now it was and it was eating through his mind at about 100 miles per hour. 

After his, what must have been the 100th tour of the hotel room, Victor pulled Yuuri into a big hug. 

“We don't have to stay in this room.”, Victor started, “I know I am a bad coach for saying this, but we could go and sightsee for a bit instead.” he suggested gently.

Yuuri nodded into Victor's shoulder.

It was still daytime when they headed out so Victor googled things to do around the area on his phone using the hotel's WiFi, and found an outdoor ice rink in the city centre. He grabbed their skates from their luggage and dragged Yuuri out of the hotel. No press would be around in the middle of the day, so they left without any fuss.

Yuuri smiled as Victor led him through the busy streets of the city by hand. Their relationship, while somewhat stunted by recent events had not lessened the love which flowed between them. While he still covered his mark, he was no longer subconsciously tugging down his sleeves, or panicking if it was ever accidentally uncovered. Instead, for the first time in his life, he was calm about it. 

Victor paid for the tickets to get them into the ice rink and they went to sit down by the benches to lace up their boots. Yuuri was about to tie his own laces, but Victor slapped his hands away. Without saying anything, Victor tied them instead. 

“You always do them wrong.” Victor offered as an explanation.

Yuuri was perplexed, how could he tie his laces wrong? “That's weird, but sure if it makes you happy, you fuss pot.”

Victor finished tying up Yuuri's laces, stood up and ruffled Yuuri's hair, he gave the smile which meant he was not happy with that particular nickname but had decided to ignore it, “Let's skate, I want to try something away from the cameras.”

Standing up Yuuri replied, “Try what? If you need to try something then why can't we do it back in Hasetsu? We would have more space, I can't exactly practice a quad with loads of people skating around me.”

“That's true, but we aren't going to do that. We are doing something special. Just get moving I want to make the most of this.”

Yuuri sighed and took Victor's hand as the walked to the rink.

After a few laps, Victor coaching Yuuri on his edge control, he did something unexpected. He slid behind Yuuri and wrapped a hand around his waist and took his hand. Surprised, Yuuri gasped and stumbled forward slightly, Victor caught him before they tumbled in front of little kids zooming around with the aid of little penguins. 

“Careful,” Victor whispered into Yuuri's ear as the skated in sync with each other around the arena, “You don't want to mess up like that when we do this for your exhibition skate.”

“What!?”

But in the end, Yuuri went with it. They needed to show the world that they aren't taking the honour of being soul mates lightly, they needed to show that they were made for each other and what a lovely way to show it by skating in complete synchronisation.

They practised different step sequences together, both taking turns to lead and be led. Through turns and spins, they made sure that they made things as clean as possible. Of course, there wee hairy moments when one of them (Victor) would get cocky and try to do something a little more difficult which would end up with both of the falling on to the ice – but there were also great moments. Moments such as returning the little penguins to children after they had fallen and teaching them how to push of the ice. Things like that which reminded the both of them where they had come from and how much they had progressed since they were kids. 

*** 

Cold from the outdoor skating after their little dabble in pair skating, Victor decided to go to the hot pot place for something to eat. While Yuuri didn't really like hot pot, as it didn't always agree with him, he smiled as Victor ordered the entire menu. At least it was making his soul mate happy. 

As Victor marvelled and chuckled at the beauty of the food being delivered, he started to day dream. He was happy, Victor was happy, he could zone out for a little while. 

“Oh, Yuuri!”

Was that Phichit? Yuuri turned his head to the side and gasped with delight, “PHICHIT!”

He had completely forgot that his best friend would be in China. In all honesty, he was in his own bubble and didn't think about the fact that his best friend would be here among other skaters who he was friendly with. Oh no, that also meant that Ciao Ciao would be here. He had completely ignored his coach after he had left him in Detroit, but now with all the drama of being a soul mate and the leaked photo's – had Ciao Ciao seen them? Would that make it more awkward between them? 

Probably knowing Phichit. Phichit probably would have shown Ciao Ciao after knowing that Yuuri had calmed down. This was going to be embarrassing. Especially as he could likely be asked the all important “What's your opinion on the photo's released?” at the interview. 

Previous to coming to China, Victor had coached Yuuri on what to say in case of an interview like that. In his anxiety, Yuuri wasn't sure that it was going to come out in the exact way he had been practising it. He was more anxious about this interview than he was about the skate – and that was saying something.

“So should I invite Ciao Ciao?”

“No no no no no-”

His pleas were futile as Phichit had already picked up the phone and dialled the number.

“Hey Ciao Ciao! I'm here with Victor and Yuuri at the hot pot place, please come see us, it'll be great!” Phichit cheerfully said into the phone much to Yuuri's dismay, “Yes, Yuuri's really excited to see you.” He shot a look at Yuuri, “Yeah, he really wants you to come.”

“You're a monster, Phichit.”

“You love me, Yuuri.”

Yuuri pulled a face, but it lessened as Phichit sat down besides him, and they started to chat about their lives since they had last been face to face. Phichit and Yuuri soon made a pact to never take drunk pictures again – sealing it with their secret best friend's hand shake. Victor giggled and stuffed his face with glee, secretly enjoying Yuuri being happy with his best friend. 

Soon after, Ciao Ciao arrived. Yuuri got up so Ciao Ciao could sit by Phichit and he went to sit by Victor. Victor offered Ciao Ciao some sea food but his face went green and it was obvious that he couldn't stomach the food – especially that the competition was important and he couldn't let his skaters suffer because he was ill. 

The conversation strayed away from catching up to skating. Ciao Ciao wanted to know how Yuuri's quads were coming along this season since he historically had been having trouble with them. 

“Oh, they're magnificent!” Victor replied after taking a few sips of his strong alcoholic beverage, “His thighs are amazing – he's amazing. Yuuri,” Victor turned to him and threw himself across his lap, “Aren't you, Yuuri?”

Yuuri flushed red and flopped his head on the table, he looked down at Victor's adoring face, “Shut up, you're drunk.”

Victor continued being an incredibly clingy drunk, bragging about Yuuri all the while,and after a eating and chatting away for about an hour, Phichit messaged Leo and soon he arrived with Guang-Hong following along in tow. 

Meanwhile, Victor had decided to strip. In the middle of the restaurant. In front of everyone.

Ashamed, Yuuri tried to separate himself from his soul mate but couldn't due to the fact that Victor had decided to jump into Yuuri's arms, straddle him and completely strip off. Yuuri quickly wrapped his arms around Victor to stop him moving and exposing himself in front of the entire company of people. He gestured for Guang-Hong to pass him Victor's underwear and trousers so he could be at least decent. 

After some pouting and some clever positioning from Phichit, Yuuri managed to dress Victor again and they left the restaurant in a hurry. It was getting late and they all needed a good nights sleep before the short programme tomorrow. 

*** 

“PHICHIT!” Yuuri yelled as he opened his instagram while warming up for his short programme, “What is this?”, he said as he held up his phone close to Phichit's face, “What happened to the promise we made to each other?”

Phichit backed up to Leo and Guang-Hong for protection from angry Yuuri, “Um -”

“Now people are definitely going to think we fooling around before the competition.” he muttered under his breath before he found his words again, “We shook on it with our secret handshake!”

Phichit put his hand on Yuuri's shoulder, “I'm sorry but my followers have to know about every important aspect of my life. Seeing you holding Victor naked was definitely one of those things I've got to document. I had to.”

Yuuri's face softened, the two friends could never be mad at each other for too long, “Well, at least you released the picture rather than a hacker. Also, did you ever find the person who did it?”

Phichit shook his head, “Apparently, there's no trace of them.”

Thats strange, thought Yuuri, he couldn't think why anyone would want to hurt his career like that. Maybe he could see if Victor had any connections in Russia to figure out who took the pictures. Again, he couldn't get it out of his head but he had to shake it if he was going to perform Eros to the best of his ability.

Looking to take his mind off of things, he turned to find Victor when someone unexpectedly cupped his arse. 

“EH!”

“Remember me, Yuuri?” The man purred into his ear.

Yuuri jumped, “Urrmmm, you're Chris Giacometti?”

“Hello Christophe,” It was Victor, (thank God – maybe he could save him from Chris), “We need to catch up, perhaps after the competition before he catch the plane home.”

It wasn't a question – it was almost like an order. 

“Sure, Victor – I look forward to it.” Chris' hand left Yuuri's arse and he glided away to finish warming up off the ice. 

“Ah, I missed Chris, we always had a friendly rivalry. I think he misses that.” Victor said, almost wistfully. Yuuri couldn't help but think that Victor wanted to quit being his coach, despite the declaration of being soul mates and go back to being a competitor – but that couldn't happen, could it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! As always for updates on the development of this fic and my other multi chapter Gangsta Prohibition era AU Poker Face please follow my art/project side blog on tumblr https://trashcansamart.tumblr.com/
> 
> Next update will be.... my laptop has broken :(((( so I'm currently going to try and update this on my phone but also I literally have my a levels coming up which are dependent on going to university so this will have to take a back seat :(( sorry but I'm going to try to update it though.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed !! I always love reading positive comments and stuff <3


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